DINOSAUR CD RACK Holds 14 CDs jewel case storage organizer holder Godzilla t-rex

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Seller: sidewaysstairsco ✉️ (1,180) 100%, Location: Santa Ana, California, US, Ships to: US & many other countries, Item: 195844672582 DINOSAUR CD RACK Holds 14 CDs jewel case storage organizer holder Godzilla t-rex. Check out our other new & used items>>>>>HERE! (click me) FOR SALE: A unique, creature-themed, media holder for jewel cases DINOSAUR MEDIA STORAGE RACK (YOUR CHOICE OF GOLDEN YELLOW OR PINK) DETAILS: Please let us know which color you would like when ordering. We currently have: 2 yellow and 4 pink Store your favorite media on this quirky, dinosaur-shaped storage rack! This incredible CD storage rack is designed to resemble the mighty T-Rex dinosaur, with a twist that Godzilla fans will adore - its head bears a striking resemblance to the legendary monster himself! This unique fusion of two iconic creatures will surely make a statement in any room, showcasing your love for dinosaurs and classic cinema in one magnificent piece while keeping your media collection organized and protected. The dino-shaped media rack holds 14 CD, CD-ROM/PC game, PlayStation 1, Dreamcast, 3DO, CD-R, CD-RW, etc. cases along the length of the dinosaur's back. Its compact size makes it ideal for desks, shelves, or entertainment centers, allowing you to save space without compromising style. Whether you're a collector, gamer, or simply looking to add a touch of personality to your room, this CD rack is perfect for you! Don't miss out on this opportunity to own a truly unique piece that will undoubtedly spark conversations and admiration. Holds up to 14 jewel cases, keeping your CDs and games neatly organized and easily accessible. Choose from 2 vibrant colors, allowing you to customize the rack to match your unique style and room decor. Made from durable materials, ensuring long-lasting use and protection for your media. Ships flat, and the assembly is simple, allowing you to enjoy your new CD rack in no time. Holds more than media! Its intended purpose is to hold media cases but this lovable monster can be used for more. Use it in the office or home for organizing mail. Its possible to store small, thin books on this rack as well. Think of the possibilities! Drying rack of some sort? If you love dinosaurs and/or Godzilla you'll find a use! Dimensions: Assembled: approximately 15" (L) x 10 7/8" (H) x 3 3/4" (W) CONDITION: New in package. Please see photos. THANK YOU FOR LOOKING. QUESTIONS? JUST ASK. *ALL PHOTOS AND TEXT ARE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OF SIDEWAYS STAIRS CO. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.* "Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles[note 1] of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 245 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is a subject of active research. They became the dominant terrestrial vertebrates after the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event 201.3 mya and their dominance continued throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. The fossil record shows that birds are feathered dinosaurs, having evolved from earlier theropods during the Late Jurassic epoch, and are the only dinosaur lineage known to have survived the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event approximately 66 mya. Dinosaurs can therefore be divided into avian dinosaurs—birds—and the extinct non-avian dinosaurs, which are all dinosaurs other than birds. Dinosaurs are varied from taxonomic, morphological and ecological standpoints. Birds, at over 10,700 living species, are among the most diverse groups of vertebrates. Using fossil evidence, paleontologists have identified over 900 distinct genera and more than 1,000 different species of non-avian dinosaurs. Dinosaurs are represented on every continent by both extant species (birds) and fossil remains. Through the first half of the 20th century, before birds were recognized as dinosaurs, most of the scientific community believed dinosaurs to have been sluggish and cold-blooded. Most research conducted since the 1970s, however, has indicated that dinosaurs were active animals with elevated metabolisms and numerous adaptations for social interaction. Some were herbivorous, others carnivorous. Evidence suggests that all dinosaurs were egg-laying, and that nest-building was a trait shared by many dinosaurs, both avian and non-avian. While dinosaurs were ancestrally bipedal, many extinct groups included quadrupedal species, and some were able to shift between these stances. Elaborate display structures such as horns or crests are common to all dinosaur groups, and some extinct groups developed skeletal modifications such as bony armor and spines. While the dinosaurs' modern-day surviving avian lineage (birds) are generally small due to the constraints of flight, many prehistoric dinosaurs (non-avian and avian) were large-bodied—the largest sauropod dinosaurs are estimated to have reached lengths of 39.7 meters (130 feet) and heights of 18 m (59 ft) and were the largest land animals of all time. The misconception that non-avian dinosaurs were uniformly gigantic is based in part on preservation bias, as large, sturdy bones are more likely to last until they are fossilized. Many dinosaurs were quite small, some measuring about 50 centimeters (20 inches) in length. The first dinosaur fossils were recognized in the early 19th century, with the name "dinosaur" (meaning "terrible lizard") being coined by Sir Richard Owen in 1842 to refer to these "great fossil lizards".[7][8][9] Since then, mounted fossil dinosaur skeletons have been major attractions at museums worldwide, and dinosaurs have become an enduring part of popular culture. The large sizes of some dinosaurs, as well as their seemingly monstrous and fantastic nature, have ensured their regular appearance in best-selling books and films, such as Jurassic Park. Persistent public enthusiasm for the animals has resulted in significant funding for dinosaur science, and new discoveries are regularly covered by the media. Definition Under phylogenetic nomenclature, dinosaurs are usually defined as the group consisting of the most recent common ancestor (MRCA) of Triceratops and modern birds (Neornithes), and all its descendants.[10] It has also been suggested that Dinosauria be defined with respect to the MRCA of Megalosaurus and Iguanodon, because these were two of the three genera cited by Richard Owen when he recognized the Dinosauria.[11] Both definitions result in the same set of animals being defined as dinosaurs: "Dinosauria = Ornithischia + Saurischia". This definition includes major groups such as ankylosaurians (armored herbivorous quadrupeds), stegosaurians (plated herbivorous quadrupeds), ceratopsians (bipedal or quadrupedal herbivores with neck frills), pachycephalosaurians (bipedal herbivores with thick skulls), ornithopods (bipedal or quadrupedal herbivores including "duck-bills"), theropods (mostly bipedal carnivores and birds), and sauropodomorphs (mostly large herbivorous quadrupeds with long necks and tails).[12] Birds are the sole surviving dinosaurs. In traditional taxonomy, birds were considered a separate class that had evolved from dinosaurs, a distinct superorder. However, a majority of contemporary paleontologists concerned with dinosaurs reject the traditional style of classification in favor of phylogenetic taxonomy; this approach requires that, for a group to be natural, all descendants of members of the group must be included in the group.[13] Birds belong to the dinosaur subgroup Maniraptora, which are coelurosaurs, which are theropods, which are saurischians.[14] Research by Matthew G. Baron, David B. Norman, and Paul M. Barrett in 2017 suggested a radical revision of dinosaurian systematics. Phylogenetic analysis by Baron et al. recovered the Ornithischia as being closer to the Theropoda than the Sauropodomorpha, as opposed to the traditional union of theropods with sauropodomorphs. This would cause sauropods and kin to fall outside traditional dinosaurs, so they re-defined Dinosauria as the last common ancestor of Triceratops horridus, Passer domesticus and Diplodocus carnegii, and all of its descendants, to ensure that sauropods and kin remain included as dinosaurs. They also resurrected the clade Ornithoscelida to refer to the group containing Ornithischia and Theropoda.[15][16] General description Triceratops skeleton, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Using one of the above definitions, dinosaurs can be generally described as archosaurs with hind limbs held erect beneath the body.[17] Other prehistoric animals, including pterosaurs, mosasaurs, ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and Dimetrodon, while often popularly conceived of as dinosaurs, are not taxonomically classified as dinosaurs.[18] Pterosaurs are distantly related to dinosaurs, being members of the clade Ornithodira. The other groups mentioned are, like dinosaurs and pterosaurs, members of Sauropsida (the reptile and bird clade), except Dimetrodon (which is a synapsid). None of them had the erect hind limb posture characteristic of true dinosaurs.[19] Dinosaurs were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates of the Mesozoic Era, especially the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Other groups of animals were restricted in size and niches; mammals, for example, rarely exceeded the size of a domestic cat, and were generally rodent-sized carnivores of small prey.[20] They have always been recognized as an extremely varied group of animals; over 900 non-avian dinosaur genera have been identified with certainty as of 2018, and the total number of genera preserved in the fossil record has been estimated at around 1850, nearly 75% of which remain to be discovered, and 1124 species by 2016.[21][22][23] A 1995 study predicted that about 3,400 dinosaur genera ever existed, including many that would not have been preserved in the fossil record.[24] In 2016, the estimated number of dinosaur species that existed in the Mesozoic was 1,543–2,468.[25][26] In 2021, the number of modern-day birds (avian dinosaurs) was estimated to be at 10,806 species.[27] Some are herbivorous, others carnivorous, including seed-eaters, fish-eaters, insectivores, and omnivores. While dinosaurs were ancestrally bipedal (as are all modern birds), some prehistoric species were quadrupeds, and others, such as Anchisaurus and Iguanodon, could walk just as easily on two or four legs. Cranial modifications like horns and crests are common dinosaurian traits, and some extinct species had bony armor. Although known for large size, many Mesozoic dinosaurs were human-sized or smaller, and modern birds are generally small in size. Dinosaurs today inhabit every continent, and fossils show that they had achieved global distribution by at least the Early Jurassic epoch.[28] Modern birds inhabit most available habitats, from terrestrial to marine, and there is evidence that some non-avian dinosaurs (such as Microraptor) could fly or at least glide, and others, such as spinosaurids, had semiaquatic habits.[29] Distinguishing anatomical features While recent discoveries have made it more difficult to present a universally agreed-upon list of their distinguishing features, nearly all dinosaurs discovered so far share certain modifications to the ancestral archosaurian skeleton, or are clearly descendants of older dinosaurs showing these modifications. Although some later groups of dinosaurs featured further modified versions of these traits, they are considered typical for Dinosauria; the earliest dinosaurs had them and passed them on to their descendants. Such modifications, originating in the most recent common ancestor of a certain taxonomic group, are called the synapomorphies of such a group.[30] Labeled diagram of a typical archosaur skull, the skull of Dromaeosaurus A detailed assessment of archosaur interrelations by Sterling Nesbitt[31] confirmed or found the following twelve unambiguous synapomorphies, some previously known:     In the skull, a supratemporal fossa (excavation) is present in front of the supratemporal fenestra, the main opening in the rear skull roof     Epipophyses, obliquely backward-pointing processes on the rear top corners of the anterior (front) neck vertebrae behind the atlas and axis, the first two neck vertebrae     Apex of a deltopectoral crest (a projection on which the deltopectoral muscles attach) located at or more than 30% down the length of the humerus (upper arm bone)     Radius, a lower arm bone, shorter than 80% of humerus length     Fourth trochanter (projection where the caudofemoralis muscle attaches on the inner rear shaft) on the femur (thigh bone) is a sharp flange     Fourth trochanter asymmetrical, with distal, lower, margin forming a steeper angle to the shaft     On the astragalus and calcaneum, upper ankle bones, the proximal articular facet, the top connecting surface, for the fibula occupies less than 30% of the transverse width of the element     Exoccipitals (bones at the back of the skull) do not meet along the midline on the floor of the endocranial cavity, the inner space of the braincase     In the pelvis, the proximal articular surfaces of the ischium with the ilium and the pubis are separated by a large concave surface (on the upper side of the ischium a part of the open hip joint is located between the contacts with the pubic bone and the ilium)     Cnemial crest on the tibia (protruding part of the top surface of the shinbone) arcs anterolaterally (curves to the front and the outer side)     Distinct proximodistally oriented (vertical) ridge present on the posterior face of the distal end of the tibia (the rear surface of the lower end of the shinbone)     Concave articular surface for the fibula of the calcaneum (the top surface of the calcaneum, where it touches the fibula, has a hollow profile) Nesbitt found a number of further potential synapomorphies and discounted a number of synapomorphies previously suggested. Some of these are also present in silesaurids, which Nesbitt recovered as a sister group to Dinosauria, including a large anterior trochanter, metatarsals II and IV of subequal length, reduced contact between ischium and pubis, the presence of a cnemial crest on the tibia and of an ascending process on the astragalus, and many others.[10] Hip joints and hindlimb postures of: (left to right) typical reptiles (sprawling), dinosaurs and mammals (erect), and rauisuchians (pillar-erect) A variety of other skeletal features are shared by dinosaurs. However, because they either are common to other groups of archosaurs or were not present in all early dinosaurs, these features are not considered to be synapomorphies. For example, as diapsids, dinosaurs ancestrally had two pairs of Infratemporal fenestrae (openings in the skull behind the eyes), and as members of the diapsid group Archosauria, had additional openings in the snout and lower jaw.[32] Additionally, several characteristics once thought to be synapomorphies are now known to have appeared before dinosaurs, or were absent in the earliest dinosaurs and independently evolved by different dinosaur groups. These include an elongated scapula, or shoulder blade; a sacrum composed of three or more fused vertebrae (three are found in some other archosaurs, but only two are found in Herrerasaurus);[10] and a perforate acetabulum, or hip socket, with a hole at the center of its inside surface (closed in Saturnalia tupiniquim, for example).[33][34] Another difficulty of determining distinctly dinosaurian features is that early dinosaurs and other archosaurs from the Late Triassic epoch are often poorly known and were similar in many ways; these animals have sometimes been misidentified in the literature.[35] Dinosaurs stand with their hind limbs erect in a manner similar to most modern mammals, but distinct from most other reptiles, whose limbs sprawl out to either side.[36] This posture is due to the development of a laterally facing recess in the pelvis (usually an open socket) and a corresponding inwardly facing distinct head on the femur.[37] Their erect posture enabled early dinosaurs to breathe easily while moving, which likely permitted stamina and activity levels that surpassed those of "sprawling" reptiles.[38] Erect limbs probably also helped support the evolution of large size by reducing bending stresses on limbs.[39] Some non-dinosaurian archosaurs, including rauisuchians, also had erect limbs but achieved this by a "pillar-erect" configuration of the hip joint, where instead of having a projection from the femur insert on a socket on the hip, the upper pelvic bone was rotated to form an overhanging shelf.[39] History of study Further information: History of paleontology Pre-scientific history Dinosaur fossils have been known for millennia, although their true nature was not recognized. The Chinese considered them to be dragon bones and documented them as such. For example, Huayang Guo Zhi (華陽國志), a gazetteer compiled by Chang Qu (常璩) during the Western Jin Dynasty (265–316), reported the discovery of dragon bones at Wucheng in Sichuan Province.[40] Villagers in central China have long unearthed fossilized "dragon bones" for use in traditional medicines.[41] In Europe, dinosaur fossils were generally believed to be the remains of giants and other biblical creatures.[42] Early dinosaur research William Buckland Scholarly descriptions of what would now be recognized as dinosaur bones first appeared in the late 17th century in England. Part of a bone, now known to have been the femur of a Megalosaurus,[43] was recovered from a limestone quarry at Cornwell near Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, in 1676. The fragment was sent to Robert Plot, Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oxford and first curator of the Ashmolean Museum, who published a description in his The Natural History of Oxford-shire (1677).[44] He correctly identified the bone as the lower extremity of the femur of a large animal, and recognized that it was too large to belong to any known species. He, therefore, concluded it to be the femur of a huge human, perhaps a Titan or another type of giant featured in legends.[45][46] Edward Lhuyd, a friend of Sir Isaac Newton, published Lithophylacii Britannici ichnographia (1699), the first scientific treatment of what would now be recognized as a dinosaur when he described and named a sauropod tooth, "Rutellum impicatum",[47][48] that had been found in Caswell, near Witney, Oxfordshire.[49] Sir Richard Owen's coining of the word dinosaur, in the 1842 revised version of his talk at an 1841 meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. Between 1815 and 1824, the Rev William Buckland, the first Reader of Geology at the University of Oxford, collected more fossilized bones of Megalosaurus and became the first person to describe a non-avian dinosaur in a scientific journal.[43][50] The second non-avian dinosaur genus to be identified, Iguanodon, was discovered in 1822 by Mary Ann Mantell – the wife of English geologist Gideon Mantell. Gideon Mantell recognized similarities between his fossils and the bones of modern iguanas. He published his findings in 1825.[51][52] The study of these "great fossil lizards" soon became of great interest to European and American scientists, and in 1842 the English paleontologist Sir Richard Owen coined the term "dinosaur", using it to refer to the "distinct tribe or sub-order of Saurian Reptiles" that were then being recognized in England and around the world.[7][8][9][53][54] The term is derived from Ancient Greek δεινός (deinos) 'terrible, potent or fearfully great', and σαῦρος (sauros) 'lizard or reptile'.[53][55] Though the taxonomic name has often been interpreted as a reference to dinosaurs' teeth, claws, and other fearsome characteristics, Owen intended it also to evoke their size and majesty.[56] Owen recognized that the remains that had been found so far, Iguanodon, Megalosaurus and Hylaeosaurus, shared distinctive features, and so decided to present them as a distinct taxonomic group. As clarified by British geologist and historian Hugh Torrens, Owen had given a presentation about fossil reptiles to the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1841, but reports of the time show that Owen did not mention the word "dinosaur", nor recognize dinosaurs as a distinct group of reptiles in his address. He introduced the Dinosauria only in the revised text version of his talk published in April of 1842.[7][8] With the backing of Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria, Owen established the Natural History Museum, London, to display the national collection of dinosaur fossils and other biological and geological exhibits.[57] Discoveries in North America Edward Drinker Cope Othniel Charles Marsh In 1858, William Parker Foulke discovered the first known American dinosaur, in marl pits in the small town of Haddonfield, New Jersey. (Although fossils had been found before, their nature had not been correctly discerned.) The creature was named Hadrosaurus foulkii. It was an extremely important find: Hadrosaurus was one of the first nearly complete dinosaur skeletons found (the first was in 1834, in Maidstone, England), and it was clearly a bipedal creature. This was a revolutionary discovery as, until that point, most scientists had believed dinosaurs walked on four feet, like other lizards. Foulke's discoveries sparked a wave of interests in dinosaurs in the United States, known as dinosaur mania.[58] Dinosaur mania was exemplified by the fierce rivalry between Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh, both of whom raced to be the first to find new dinosaurs in what came to be known as the Bone Wars. This fight between the two scientists lasted for over 30 years, ending in 1897 when Cope died after spending his entire fortune on the dinosaur hunt. Many valuable dinosaur specimens were damaged or destroyed due to the pair's rough methods: for example, their diggers often used dynamite to unearth bones. Modern paleontologists would find such methods crude and unacceptable, since blasting easily destroys fossil and stratigraphic evidence. Despite their unrefined methods, the contributions of Cope and Marsh to paleontology were vast: Marsh unearthed 86 new species of dinosaur and Cope discovered 56, a total of 142 new species. Cope's collection is now at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, while Marsh's is at the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University.[59] "Dinosaur renaissance" and beyond Main article: Dinosaur renaissance John Ostrom's original restoration of Deinonychus, published in 1969 World War II caused a pause in palaeontological research; after the war, research attention was also diverted increasingly to fossil mammals rather than dinosaurs, which were seen as sluggish and cold-blooded.[60][61] At the end of the 1960s, however, the field of dinosaur research experienced a surge in activity that remains ongoing.[62] Several seminal studies led to this activity. First, John Ostrom discovered the bird-like dromaeosaurid theropod Deinonychus and described it in 1969. Its anatomy indicated that it was an active predator that was likely warm-blooded, in marked contrast to the then-prevailing image of dinosaurs.[60] Concurrently, Robert T. Bakker published a series of studies that likewise argued for active lifestyles in dinosaurs based on anatomical and ecological evidence (see § Physiology),[63][64] which were subsequently summarized in his 1986 book The Dinosaur Heresies.[65] Paleontologist Robert T. Bakker with a mounted skeleton of a tyrannosaurid (Gorgosaurus libratus) New revelations were supported by an increase in dinosaur discoveries. Major new dinosaur discoveries have been made by paleontologists working in previously unexplored regions, including India, South America, Madagascar, Antarctica, and most significantly China. Across theropods, sauropodomorphs, and ornithischians, the number of named genera began to increase exponentially in the 1990s.[21] As of 2008, over 30 new species of dinosaurs were named each year.[66] At least sauropodomorphs experienced a further increase in the number of named species in the 2010s, with an average of 9.3 new species having been named each year between 2009 and 2020. As a consequence, more sauropodomorphs were named between 1990 and 2020 than in all previous years combined.[67] These new localities also led to improvements in overall specimen quality, with new species being increasingly named not on scrappy fossils but on more complete skeletons, sometimes from multiple individuals. Better specimens also led to new species being invalidated less frequently.[66] Asian localities have produced the most complete theropod specimens,[68] while North American localities have produced the most complete sauropodomorph specimens.[67] Prior to the dinosaur renaissance, dinosaurs were mostly classified using the traditional rank-based system of Linnaean taxonomy. The renaissance was also accompanied by the increasingly widespread application of cladistics, a more objective method of classification based on ancestry and shared traits, which has proved tremendously useful in the study of dinosaur systematics and evolution. Cladistic analysis, among other techniques, helps to compensate for an often incomplete and fragmentary fossil record.[69][70] Reference books summarizing the state of dinosaur research, such as David B. Weishampel and colleagues' The Dinosauria, made knowledge more accessible[71] and spurred further interest in dinosaur research. The release of the first and second editions of The Dinosauria in 1990 and 2004, and of a review paper by Paul Sereno in 1998, were accompanied by increases in the number of published phylogenetic trees for dinosaurs.[72] Soft tissue and molecular preservation An Edmontosaurus specimen's skin impressions found in 1999 Dinosaur fossils are not limited to bones, but also include imprints or mineralized remains of skin coverings, organs, and other tissues. Of these, skin coverings based on keratin proteins are most easily preserved because of their cross-linked, hydrophobic molecular structure.[73] Fossils of keratin-based skin coverings or bony skin coverings are known from most major groups of dinosaurs. Dinosaur fossils with scaly skin impressions have been found since the 19th century. Samuel Beckles discovered a sauropod forelimb with preserved skin in 1852 that was incorrectly attributed to a crocodile; it was correctly attributed by Marsh in 1888 and subject to further study by Reginald Hooley in 1917.[74] Among ornithischians, in 1884 Jacob Wortman found skin impressions on the first known specimen of Edmontosaurus annectens, which were largely destroyed during the specimen's excavation.[75] Owen and Hooley subsequently described skin impressions of Hypsilophodon and Iguanodon in 1885 and 1917.[74] Since then, scale impressions have been most frequently found among hadrosaurids, where the impressions are known from nearly the entire body across multiple specimens.[76] Colour restoration of Sinosauropteryx Colour restoration of Psittacosaurus Starting from the 1990s, major discoveries of exceptionally preserved fossils in deposits known as conservation Lagerstätten contributed to research on dinosaur soft tissues.[77][78] Chiefly among these were the rocks that produced the Jehol (Early Cretaceous) and Yanliao (Mid-to-Late Jurassic) biotas of northeastern China, from which hundreds of dinosaur specimens bearing impressions of feather-like structures (both closely related to birds and otherwise, see § Origin of birds) have been described by Xing Xu and colleagues.[79][80] In living reptiles and mammals, pigment-storing cellular structures known as melanosomes are partially responsible for producing colouration.[81][82] Both chemical traces of melanin and characteristically-shaped melanosomes have been reported from feathers and scales of Jehol and Yanliao dinosaurs, including both theropods and ornithischians.[83] This has enabled multiple full-body reconstructions of dinosaur colouration, such as for Sinosauropteryx[84] and Psittacosaurus[85] by Jakob Vinther and colleagues, and similar techniques have also been extended to dinosaur fossils from other localities.[81] (However, some researchers have also suggested that fossilized melanosomes represent bacterial remains.[86][87]) Stomach contents in some Jehol and Yanliao dinosaurs closely related to birds have also provided indirect indications of diet and digestive system anatomy (e.g., crops).[88][89] More concrete evidence of internal anatomy has been reported in Scipionyx from the Pietraroja Plattenkalk of Italy. It preserves portions of the intestines, colon, liver, muscles, and windpipe.[90] Scipionyx fossil with intestines, Natural History Museum of Milan Concurrently, a line of work led by Mary Higby Schweitzer, Jack Horner, and colleagues reported various occurrences of preserved soft tissues and proteins within dinosaur bone fossils. Various mineralized structures that likely represented red blood cells and collagen fibres had been found by Schweitzer and others in tyrannosaurid bones as early as 1991.[91][92][93] However, in 2005, Schweitzer and colleagues reported that a femur of Tyrannosaurus preserved soft, flexible tissue within, including blood vessels, bone matrix, and connective tissue (bone fibers) that had retained their microscopic structure.[94] This discovery suggested that original soft tissues could be preserved over geological time,[73] with multiple mechanisms having been proposed.[95] Later, in 2009, Schweitzer and colleagues reported that a Brachylophosaurus femur preserved similar microstructures, and immunohistochemical techniques (based on antibody binding) demonstrated the presence of proteins such as collagen, elastin, and laminin.[96] Both specimens yielded collagen protein sequences that were viable for molecular phylogenetic analyses, which grouped them with birds as would be expected.[96][97] The extraction of fragmentary DNA has also been reported for both of these fossils,[98] along with a specimen of Hypacrosaurus.[99] In 2015, Sergio Bertazzo and colleagues reported the preservation of collagen fibres and red blood cells in eight Cretaceous dinosaur specimens that did not show any signs of exceptional preservation, indicating that soft tissue may be preserved more commonly than previously thought.[100] Suggestions that these structures represent bacterial biofilms[101] have been rejected,[102] but cross-contamination remains a possibility that is difficult to detect.[103] Evolutionary history Origins and early evolution Full skeleton of an early carnivorous dinosaur, displayed in a glass case in a museum The early dinosaurs Herrerasaurus (large), Eoraptor (small) and a Plateosaurus skull, from the Triassic Dinosaurs diverged from their archosaur ancestors during the Middle to Late Triassic epochs, roughly 20 million years after the devastating Permian–Triassic extinction event wiped out an estimated 96% of all marine species and 70% of terrestrial vertebrate species approximately 252 million years ago.[104][105] The oldest dinosaur fossils known from substantial remains date to the Carnian epoch of the Triassic period and have been found primarily in the Ischigualasto and Santa Maria Formations of Argentina, and the Pebbly Arkose Formation of Zimbabwe.[106] The Ischigualasto Formation (radiometrically dated at 231-230 million years old[107]) has produced the early saurischian Eoraptor, originally considered a member of the Herrerasauridae[108] but now considered to be an early sauropodomorph, along with the herrerasaurids Herrerasaurus and Sanjuansaurus, and the sauropodomorphs Chromogisaurus, Eodromaeus, and Panphagia.[109] Eoraptor's likely resemblance to the common ancestor of all dinosaurs suggests that the first dinosaurs would have been small, bipedal predators.[110][111][112] The Santa Maria Formation (radiometrically dated to be older, at 233.23 million years old[113]) has produced the herrerasaurids Gnathovorax and Staurikosaurus, along with the sauropodomorphs Bagualosaurus, Buriolestes, Guaibasaurus, Macrocollum, Nhandumirim, Pampadromaeus, Saturnalia, and Unaysaurus.[109] The Pebbly Arkose Formation, which is of uncertain age but was likely comparable to the other two, has produced the sauropodomorph Mbiresaurus, along with an unnamed herrerasaurid.[106] Less well-preserved remains of the sauropodomorphs Jaklapallisaurus and Nambalia, along with the early saurischian Alwalkeria, are known from the Upper Maleri and Lower Maleri Formations of India.[114] The Carnian-aged Chañares Formation of Argentina preserves primitive, dinosaur-like ornithodirans such as Lagosuchus and Lagerpeton in Argentina, making it another important site for understanding dinosaur evolution. These ornithodirans support the model of early dinosaurs as small, bipedal predators.[109][115] Dinosaurs may have appeared as early as the Anisian epoch of the Triassic, approximately 245 million years ago, which is the age of Nyasasaurus from the Manda Formation of Tanzania. However, its known fossils are too fragmentary to identify it as a dinosaur or only a close relative.[116] The referral of the Manda Formation to the Anisian is also uncertain. Regardless, dinosaurs existed alongside non-dinosaurian ornithodirans for a period of time, with estimates ranging from 5–10 million years[117] to 21 million years.[113] When dinosaurs appeared, they were not the dominant terrestrial animals. The terrestrial habitats were occupied by various types of archosauromorphs and therapsids, like cynodonts and rhynchosaurs. Their main competitors were the pseudosuchians, such as aetosaurs, ornithosuchids and rauisuchians, which were more successful than the dinosaurs.[118] Most of these other animals became extinct in the Triassic, in one of two events. First, at about 215 million years ago, a variety of basal archosauromorphs, including the protorosaurs, became extinct. This was followed by the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event (about 201 million years ago), that saw the end of most of the other groups of early archosaurs, like aetosaurs, ornithosuchids, phytosaurs, and rauisuchians. Rhynchosaurs and dicynodonts survived (at least in some areas) at least as late as early –mid Norian and late Norian or earliest Rhaetian stages, respectively,[119][120] and the exact date of their extinction is uncertain. These losses left behind a land fauna of crocodylomorphs, dinosaurs, mammals, pterosaurians, and turtles.[10] The first few lines of early dinosaurs diversified through the Carnian and Norian stages of the Triassic, possibly by occupying the niches of the groups that became extinct.[12] Also notably, there was a heightened rate of extinction during the Carnian pluvial event.[121] Evolution and paleobiogeography The supercontinent Pangaea in the early Mesozoic (around 200 million years ago) Dinosaur evolution after the Triassic followed changes in vegetation and the location of continents. In the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic, the continents were connected as the single landmass Pangaea, and there was a worldwide dinosaur fauna mostly composed of coelophysoid carnivores and early sauropodomorph herbivores.[122] Gymnosperm plants (particularly conifers), a potential food source, radiated in the Late Triassic. Early sauropodomorphs did not have sophisticated mechanisms for processing food in the mouth, and so must have employed other means of breaking down food farther along the digestive tract.[123] The general homogeneity of dinosaurian faunas continued into the Middle and Late Jurassic, where most localities had predators consisting of ceratosaurians, megalosauroids, and allosauroids, and herbivores consisting of stegosaurian ornithischians and large sauropods. Examples of this include the Morrison Formation of North America and Tendaguru Beds of Tanzania. Dinosaurs in China show some differences, with specialized metriacanthosaurid theropods and unusual, long-necked sauropods like Mamenchisaurus.[122] Ankylosaurians and ornithopods were also becoming more common, but primitive sauropodomorphs had become extinct. Conifers and pteridophytes were the most common plants. Sauropods, like earlier sauropodomorphs, were not oral processors, but ornithischians were evolving various means of dealing with food in the mouth, including potential cheek-like organs to keep food in the mouth, and jaw motions to grind food.[123] Another notable evolutionary event of the Jurassic was the appearance of true birds, descended from maniraptoran coelurosaurians.[14] By the Early Cretaceous and the ongoing breakup of Pangaea, dinosaurs were becoming strongly differentiated by landmass. The earliest part of this time saw the spread of ankylosaurians, iguanodontians, and brachiosaurids through Europe, North America, and northern Africa. These were later supplemented or replaced in Africa by large spinosaurid and carcharodontosaurid theropods, and rebbachisaurid and titanosaurian sauropods, also found in South America. In Asia, maniraptoran coelurosaurians like dromaeosaurids, troodontids, and oviraptorosaurians became the common theropods, and ankylosaurids and early ceratopsians like Psittacosaurus became important herbivores. Meanwhile, Australia was home to a fauna of basal ankylosaurians, hypsilophodonts, and iguanodontians.[122] The stegosaurians appear to have gone extinct at some point in the late Early Cretaceous or early Late Cretaceous. A major change in the Early Cretaceous, which would be amplified in the Late Cretaceous, was the evolution of flowering plants. At the same time, several groups of dinosaurian herbivores evolved more sophisticated ways to orally process food. Ceratopsians developed a method of slicing with teeth stacked on each other in batteries, and iguanodontians refined a method of grinding with dental batteries, taken to its extreme in hadrosaurids.[123] Some sauropods also evolved tooth batteries, best exemplified by the rebbachisaurid Nigersaurus.[124] There were three general dinosaur faunas in the Late Cretaceous. In the northern continents of North America and Asia, the major theropods were tyrannosaurids and various types of smaller maniraptoran theropods, with a predominantly ornithischian herbivore assemblage of hadrosaurids, ceratopsians, ankylosaurids, and pachycephalosaurians. In the southern continents that had made up the now-splitting supercontinent Gondwana, abelisaurids were the common theropods, and titanosaurian sauropods the common herbivores. Finally, in Europe, dromaeosaurids, rhabdodontid iguanodontians, nodosaurid ankylosaurians, and titanosaurian sauropods were prevalent.[122] Flowering plants were greatly radiating,[123] with the first grasses appearing by the end of the Cretaceous.[125] Grinding hadrosaurids and shearing ceratopsians became very diverse across North America and Asia. Theropods were also radiating as herbivores or omnivores, with therizinosaurians and ornithomimosaurians becoming common.[123] The Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, which occurred approximately 66 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous, caused the extinction of all dinosaur groups except for the neornithine birds. Some other diapsid groups, including crocodilians, dyrosaurs, sebecosuchians, turtles, lizards, snakes, sphenodontians, and choristoderans, also survived the event.[126] The surviving lineages of neornithine birds, including the ancestors of modern ratites, ducks and chickens, and a variety of waterbirds, diversified rapidly at the beginning of the Paleogene period, entering ecological niches left vacant by the extinction of Mesozoic dinosaur groups such as the arboreal enantiornithines, aquatic hesperornithines, and even the larger terrestrial theropods (in the form of Gastornis, eogruiids, bathornithids, ratites, geranoidids, mihirungs, and "terror birds"). It is often stated that mammals out-competed the neornithines for dominance of most terrestrial niches but many of these groups co-existed with rich mammalian faunas for most of the Cenozoic Era.[127] Terror birds and bathornithids occupied carnivorous guilds alongside predatory mammals,[128][129] and ratites are still fairly successful as mid-sized herbivores; eogruiids similarly lasted from the Eocene to Pliocene, becoming extinct only very recently after over 20 million years of co-existence with many mammal groups.[130] Classification Main article: Dinosaur classification Saurischian pelvis structure (left side) Tyrannosaurus pelvis (showing saurischian structure – left side) Ornithischian pelvis structure (left side) Edmontosaurus pelvis (showing ornithischian structure – left side) Dinosaurs belong to a group known as archosaurs, which also includes modern crocodilians. Within the archosaur group, dinosaurs are differentiated most noticeably by their gait. Dinosaur legs extend directly beneath the body, whereas the legs of lizards and crocodilians sprawl out to either side.[30] Collectively, dinosaurs as a clade are divided into two primary branches, Saurischia and Ornithischia. Saurischia includes those taxa sharing a more recent common ancestor with birds than with Ornithischia, while Ornithischia includes all taxa sharing a more recent common ancestor with Triceratops than with Saurischia. Anatomically, these two groups can be distinguished most noticeably by their pelvic structure. Early saurischians—"lizard-hipped", from the Greek sauros (σαῦρος) meaning "lizard" and ischion (ἰσχίον) meaning "hip joint"—retained the hip structure of their ancestors, with a pubis bone directed cranially, or forward.[37] This basic form was modified by rotating the pubis backward to varying degrees in several groups (Herrerasaurus,[131] therizinosauroids,[132] dromaeosaurids,[133] and birds[14]). Saurischia includes the theropods (exclusively bipedal and with a wide variety of diets) and sauropodomorphs (long-necked herbivores which include advanced, quadrupedal groups).[29][134] By contrast, ornithischians—"bird-hipped", from the Greek ornitheios (ὀρνίθειος) meaning "of a bird" and ischion (ἰσχίον) meaning "hip joint"—had a pelvis that superficially resembled a bird's pelvis: the pubic bone was oriented caudally (rear-pointing). Unlike birds, the ornithischian pubis also usually had an additional forward-pointing process. Ornithischia includes a variety of species that were primarily herbivores. Despite the terms "bird hip" (Ornithischia) and "lizard hip" (Saurischia), birds are not part of Ornithischia. Birds instead belong to Saurischia, the “lizard-hipped” dinosaurs—birds evolved from earlier dinosaurs with "lizard hips".[30] Taxonomy The following is a simplified classification of dinosaur groups based on their evolutionary relationships, and those of the main dinosaur groups Theropoda, Sauropodomorpha and Ornithischia, compiled by Justin Tweet.[135] Further details and other hypotheses of classification may be found on individual articles.     Dinosauria Restoration of six ornithopods; far left: Camptosaurus, left: Iguanodon, center background: Shantungosaurus, center foreground: Dryosaurus, right: Corythosaurus, far right (large) Tenontosaurus.         †Ornithischia ("bird-hipped"; diverse bipedal and quadrupedal herbivores)             †Heterodontosauridae (small herbivores/omnivores with prominent canine-like teeth)                 †Genasauria ("cheeked lizards")                     †Thyreophora (armored dinosaurs; bipeds and quadrupeds)                         †Eurypoda (heavy, quadrupedal thyreophorans)                             †Stegosauria (spikes and plates as primary armor)                                 †Huayangosauridae (small stegosaurs with flank osteoderms and tail clubs)                                 †Stegosauridae (large stegosaurs)                             †Ankylosauria (scutes as primary armor)                                 †Parankylosauria (small, southern ankylosaurs with macuahuitl-like tails)                                 †Nodosauridae (mostly spiky, club-less ankylosaurs)                                 †Ankylosauridae (characterized by flat scutes)                                     †Ankylosaurinae (club-tailed ankylosaurids)                     †Neornithischia ("new ornithischians")                         †Cerapoda ("horned feet")                             †Marginocephalia (characterized by a cranial growth) Restoration of four ceratopsids: top left - Triceratops, top right - Styracosaurus, bottom left - Anchiceratops, bottom right - Chasmosaurus.                                 †Pachycephalosauria (bipeds with domed or knobby growth on skulls)                                 †Ceratopsia (bipeds and quadrupeds; many had neck frills and horns)                                     †Chaoyangsauridae (small, frill-less basal ceratopsians)                                     †Neoceratopsia ("new ceratopsians")                                         †Leptoceratopsidae (little to no frills, hornless, with robust jaws)                                         †Protoceratopsidae (basal ceratopsians with small frills and stubby horns)                                             †Ceratopsoidea (large-horned ceratopsians)                                                 †Ceratopsidae (large, elaborately ornamented ceratopsians)                                                     †Chasmosaurinae (ceratopsids with enlarged brow horns)                                                         †Triceratopsini (very large chasmosaurines with long brow horns)                                                     †Centrosaurinae (ceratopsids mostly characterized by frill and nasal ornamentation)                                                         †Nasutoceratopsini (centrosaurines with enlarged nasal cavities)                                                         †Centrosaurini (centrosaurines with enlarged nasal horns)                                                         †Pachyrhinosaurini (mostly had nasal bosses instead of horns)                             †Ornithopoda (various sizes; bipeds and quadrupeds; evolved a method of chewing using skull flexibility and numerous teeth)                                 †Jeholosauridae (small Asian neornithischians)                                 †Thescelosauridae ("wondrous lizards")                                     †Orodrominae (burrowers)                                     †Thescelosaurinae (large thescelosaurids)                                 †Iguanodontia ("iguana teeth"; advanced ornithopods)                                     †Elasmaria (mostly southern ornithopods with mineralized plates along the ribs; may be thescelosaurids)                                     †Rhabdodontomorpha (with distinctive dentition)                                         †Rhabdodontidae (European rhabdodontomorphs)                                     †Dryosauridae (mid-sized, small headed)                                     †Camptosauridae (mid-sized, stocky)                                         †Styracosterna ("spiked sterna")                                             †Hadrosauriformes (ancestrally had a thumb spike)                                                 †Hadrosauroidea (large quadrupedal herbivores, with teeth merged into dental batteries)                                                     †Hadrosauromorpha (hadrosaurids and their closest relatives)                                                         †Hadrosauridae ("duck-billed dinosaurs"; often with crests)                                                             †Saurolophinae (hadrosaurids with solid, small, no crests)                                                                 †Brachylophosaurini (short-crested)                                                                 †Kritosaurini (enlarged, solid nasal crests)                                                                 †Saurolophini (small, spike-like crests)                                                                 †Edmontosaurini (flat-headed saurolophines)                                                             †Lambeosaurinae (hadrosaurids often with hollow crests)                                                                 †Aralosaurini (solid-crested)                                                                 †Tsintaosaurini (vertical, tube-like crests)                                                                 †Parasaurolophini (long, backwards-arcing crests)                                                                 †Lambeosaurini (usually rounded crests)         Saurischia             †Herrerasauridae (early bipedal carnivores) Restoration of four macronarian sauropods: from left to right Camarasaurus, Brachiosaurus, Giraffatitan, and Euhelopus             †Sauropodomorpha (herbivores with small heads, long necks, and long tails)                 †Unaysauridae (primitive, strictly bipedal "prosauropods")                 †Plateosauria (diverse; bipeds and quadrupeds)                     †Massospondylidae (long-necked, primitive sauropodomorphs)                     †Riojasauridae (large, primitive sauropodomorphs)                         †Sauropodiformes (heavy, bipeds and quadrupeds)                             †Sauropoda (very large and heavy; quadrupedal)                                 †Lessemsauridae (gigantic yet lacking several weight-saving adaptations)                                 †Gravisauria ("heavy lizards")                                     †Eusauropoda ("true sauropods")                                         †Turiasauria (often large, widespread sauropods)                                         †Neosauropoda ("new sauropods"; columnar limbs)                                             †Diplodocoidea (skulls and tails elongated; teeth typically narrow and pencil-like)                                                 †Rebbachisauridae (short-necked, low-browsing diplodocoids often with high backs)                                                 †Flagellicaudata (whip-tailed)                                                     †Dicraeosauridae (small, short-necked diplodocoids with enlarged cervical and dorsal vertebrae)                                                     †Diplodocidae (extremely long-necked)                                                         †Apatosaurinae (robust cervical vertebrae)                                                         †Diplodocinae (long, thin necks)                                             †Macronaria (boxy skulls; spoon- or pencil-shaped teeth)                                                 †Titanosauriformes ("titan lizard forms")                                                     †Brachiosauridae (long-necked, long-armed macronarians)                                                     †Somphospondyli ("porous vertebrae")                                                         †Euhelopodidae (stocky, mostly Asian)                                                         †Titanosauria (diverse; stocky, with wide hips; most common in the Late Cretaceous of southern continents)             Theropoda (carnivorous)                 Neotheropoda ("new theropods")                     †Coelophysoidea (early theropods; includes Coelophysis and close relatives)                     †"Dilophosaur-grade neotheropods" (larger kink-snouted dinosaurs)                     Averostra ("bird snouts")                         †Ceratosauria (generally elaborately horned carnivores that existed from the Jurassic to Cretaceous periods, originally included Coelophysoidea)                             †Ceratosauridae (ceratosaurs with large teeth)                             †Abelisauroidea (ceratosaurs exemplified by reduced arms and hands)                                 †Abelisauridae (large abelisauroids with short arms and oftentimes elaborate facial ornamentation)                                 †Noasauridae (diverse, generally light theropods; may include several obscure taxa)                                     †Elaphrosaurinae (bird-like; omnivorous as juveniles but herbivorous as adults)                                     †Noasaurinae (small carnivores)                         Tetanurae (stiff-tailed dinosaurs)                             †Megalosauroidea (early group of large carnivores)                                 †Piatnitzkysauridae (small basal megalosauroids endemic to the Americas)                                 †Megalosauridae (large megalosauroids with powerful arms and hands)                                 †Spinosauridae (crocodile-like, semiaquatic carnivores)                             Avetheropoda ("bird theropods")                                 †Megaraptora (theropods with large hand claws; either carnosaurs or coelurosaurs, potentially tyrannosauroids)                                 †Carnosauria (large meat-eating dinosaurs; megalosauroids sometimes included)                                     †Metriacanthosauridae (primitive Asian allosauroids)                                     †Allosauridae (Allosaurus and its very closest relatives)                                     †Carcharodontosauria (robust allosauroids)                                         †Carcharodontosauridae (includes some of the largest purely terrestrial carnivores)                                         †Neovenatoridae ("new hunters"; may include megaraptorans)                                 Coelurosauria (feathered theropods, with a range of body sizes and niches)                                     †"Nexus of basal coelurosaurs" (used by Tweet to denote well-known taxa with unstable positions at the base of Coelurosauria)                                     Tyrannoraptora ("tyrant thieves")                                         †Compsognathidae (small early coelurosaurs with short forelimbs)                                         †Tyrannosauroidea (mostly large, primitive coelurosaurs)                                             †Proceratosauridae (tyrannosauroids with head crests)                                             †Tyrannosauridae (Tyrannosaurus and close relatives)                                         Maniraptoriformes (bird-like dinosaurs)                                             †Ornithomimosauria (small-headed, mostly toothless, omnivorous or possible herbivores)                                                 †Ornithomimidae (very ostrich-like dinosaurs)                                             Maniraptora (dinosaurs with pennaceous feathers) Restoration of six dromaeosaurid theropods: from left to right Microraptor, Velociraptor, Austroraptor, Dromaeosaurus, Utahraptor, and Deinonychus                                                 †Alvarezsauroidea (small hunters with reduced forelimbs)                                                     †Alvarezsauridae (insectivores with only one enlarged digit)                                                 †Therizinosauria (tall, long-necked theropods; omnivores and herbivores)                                                     †Therizinosauroidea (larger therizinosaurs)                                                         †Therizinosauridae (sloth-like herbivores, often with enlarged claws)                                                 †Oviraptorosauria (omnivorous, beaked dinosaurs)                                                     †Caudipteridae (bird-like, basal oviraptorosaurs)                                                     †Caenagnathoidea (cassowary-like oviraptorosaurs)                                                         †Caenagnathidae (toothless oviraptorosaurs known from North America and Asia)                                                         †Oviraptoridae (characterized by two bony projections at the back of the mouth; exclusive to Asia)                                                 Paraves (avialans and their closest relatives)                                                     †Scansoriopterygidae (small tree-climbing theropods with membranous wings)                                                     †Deinonychosauria (toe-clawed dinosaurs; may not form a natural group)                                                         †Archaeopterygidae (small, winged theropods or primitive birds)                                                         †Troodontidae (omnivores; enlarged brain cavities)                                                         †Dromaeosauridae ("raptors")                                                             †Microraptoria (characterized by large wings on both the arms and legs; may have been capable of powered flight)                                                             †Eudromaeosauria (hunters with greatly enlarged sickle claws)                                                         †Unenlagiidae (piscivores; may be dromaeosaurids)                                                             †Halszkaraptorinae (duck-like; potentially semiaquatic)                                                             †Unenlagiinae (long-snouted)                                                     Avialae (modern birds and extinct relatives) Timeline of major groups Timeline of major dinosaur groups per Holtz (2007). Paleobiology Knowledge about dinosaurs is derived from a variety of fossil and non-fossil records, including fossilized bones, feces, trackways, gastroliths, feathers, impressions of skin, internal organs and other soft tissues.[90][94] Many fields of study contribute to our understanding of dinosaurs, including physics (especially biomechanics), chemistry, biology, and the Earth sciences (of which paleontology is a sub-discipline).[136][137] Two topics of particular interest and study have been dinosaur size and behavior.[138] Size Main article: Dinosaur size Scale diagram comparing the average human to the longest known dinosaurs in five major clades:   Sauropoda (Supersaurus vivianae)   Ornithopoda (Shantungosaurus giganteus)   Theropoda (Spinosaurus aegyptiacus)   Thyreophora (Stegosaurus ungulatus)   Marginocephalia (Triceratops prorsus) Current evidence suggests that dinosaur average size varied through the Triassic, Early Jurassic, Late Jurassic and Cretaceous.[111] Predatory theropod dinosaurs, which occupied most terrestrial carnivore niches during the Mesozoic, most often fall into the 100 to 1000 kg (220 to 2200 lb) category when sorted by estimated weight into categories based on order of magnitude, whereas recent predatory carnivoran mammals peak in the 10 to 100 kg (22 to 220 lb) category.[139] The mode of Mesozoic dinosaur body masses is between 1 and 10 metric tons (1.1 and 11.0 short tons).[140] This contrasts sharply with the average size of Cenozoic mammals, estimated by the National Museum of Natural History as about 2 to 5 kg (4.4 to 11.0 lb).[141] The sauropods were the largest and heaviest dinosaurs. For much of the dinosaur era, the smallest sauropods were larger than anything else in their habitat, and the largest was an order of magnitude more massive than anything else that has since walked the Earth. Giant prehistoric mammals such as Paraceratherium (the largest land mammal ever) were dwarfed by the giant sauropods, and only modern whales approach or surpass them in size.[142] There are several proposed advantages for the large size of sauropods, including protection from predation, reduction of energy use, and longevity, but it may be that the most important advantage was dietary. Large animals are more efficient at digestion than small animals, because food spends more time in their digestive systems. This also permits them to subsist on food with lower nutritive value than smaller animals. Sauropod remains are mostly found in rock formations interpreted as dry or seasonally dry, and the ability to eat large quantities of low-nutrient browse would have been advantageous in such environments.[143] Largest and smallest Scientists will probably never be certain of the largest and smallest dinosaurs to have ever existed. This is because only a tiny percentage of animals were ever fossilized and most of these remain buried in the earth. Few of the specimens that are recovered are complete skeletons, and impressions of skin and other soft tissues are rare. Rebuilding a complete skeleton by comparing the size and morphology of bones to those of similar, better-known species is an inexact art, and reconstructing the muscles and other organs of the living animal is, at best, a process of educated guesswork.[144] Comparative size of Argentinosaurus to the average human The tallest and heaviest dinosaur known from good skeletons is Giraffatitan brancai (previously classified as a species of Brachiosaurus). Its remains were discovered in Tanzania between 1907 and 1912. Bones from several similar-sized individuals were incorporated into the skeleton now mounted and on display at the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin;[145] this mount is 12 meters (39 ft) tall and 21.8 to 22.5 meters (72 to 74 ft) long,[146][147] and would have belonged to an animal that weighed between 30000 and 60000 kilograms (70000 and 130000 lb). The longest complete dinosaur is the 27 meters (89 ft) long Diplodocus, which was discovered in Wyoming in the United States and displayed in Pittsburgh's Carnegie Museum of Natural History in 1907.[148] The longest dinosaur known from good fossil material is Patagotitan: the skeleton mount in the American Museum of Natural History in New York is 37 meters (121 ft) long. The Museo Municipal Carmen Funes in Plaza Huincul, Argentina, has an Argentinosaurus reconstructed skeleton mount that is 39.7 meters (130 ft) long.[149] An adult bee hummingbird, the smallest known dinosaur There were larger dinosaurs, but knowledge of them is based entirely on a small number of fragmentary fossils. Most of the largest herbivorous specimens on record were discovered in the 1970s or later, and include the massive Argentinosaurus, which may have weighed 80000 to 100000 kilograms (90 to 110 short tons) and reached lengths of 30 to 40 meters (98 to 131 ft); some of the longest were the 33.5-meter (110 ft) long Diplodocus hallorum[143] (formerly Seismosaurus), the 33-to-34-meter (108 to 112 ft) long Supersaurus,[150] and 37-meter (121 ft) long Patagotitan; and the tallest, the 18-meter (59 ft) tall Sauroposeidon, which could have reached a sixth-floor window. The heaviest and longest dinosaur may have been Maraapunisaurus, known only from a now lost partial vertebral neural arch described in 1878. Extrapolating from the illustration of this bone, the animal may have been 58 meters (190 ft) long and weighed 122400 kg (270000 lb).[143] However, as no further evidence of sauropods of this size has been found, and the discoverer, Cope, had made typographic errors before, it is likely to have been an extreme overestimation.[151] The largest carnivorous dinosaur was Spinosaurus, reaching a length of 12.6 to 18 meters (41 to 59 ft), and weighing 7 to 20.9 metric tons (7.7 to 23.0 short tons).[152][153] Other large carnivorous theropods included Giganotosaurus, Carcharodontosaurus and Tyrannosaurus.[153] Therizinosaurus and Deinocheirus were among the tallest of the theropods. The largest ornithischian dinosaur was probably the hadrosaurid Shantungosaurus giganteus which measured 16.6 meters (54 ft).[154] The largest individuals may have weighed as much as 16 metric tons (18 short tons).[155] The smallest dinosaur known is the bee hummingbird,[156] with a length of only 5 centimeters (2.0 in) and mass of around 1.8 g (0.063 oz).[157] The smallest known non-avialan dinosaurs were about the size of pigeons and were those theropods most closely related to birds.[158] For example, Anchiornis huxleyi is currently the smallest non-avialan dinosaur described from an adult specimen, with an estimated weight of 110 g (3.9 oz)[159] and a total skeletal length of 34 centimeters (1.12 ft).[158][159] The smallest herbivorous non-avialan dinosaurs included Microceratus and Wannanosaurus, at about 60 centimeters (2.0 ft) long each.[160][161] Behavior A nesting ground of the hadrosaur Maiasaura peeblesorum was discovered in 1978 Many modern birds are highly social, often found living in flocks. There is general agreement that some behaviors that are common in birds, as well as in crocodiles (closest living relatives of birds), were also common among extinct dinosaur groups. Interpretations of behavior in fossil species are generally based on the pose of skeletons and their habitat, computer simulations of their biomechanics, and comparisons with modern animals in similar ecological niches.[136] The first potential evidence for herding or flocking as a widespread behavior common to many dinosaur groups in addition to birds was the 1878 discovery of 31 Iguanodon, ornithischians that were then thought to have perished together in Bernissart, Belgium, after they fell into a deep, flooded sinkhole and drowned.[162] Other mass-death sites have been discovered subsequently. Those, along with multiple trackways, suggest that gregarious behavior was common in many early dinosaur species. Trackways of hundreds or even thousands of herbivores indicate that duck-billed (hadrosaurids) may have moved in great herds, like the American bison or the African springbok. Sauropod tracks document that these animals traveled in groups composed of several different species, at least in Oxfordshire, England,[163] although there is no evidence for specific herd structures.[164] Congregating into herds may have evolved for defense, for migratory purposes, or to provide protection for young. There is evidence that many types of slow-growing dinosaurs, including various theropods, sauropods, ankylosaurians, ornithopods, and ceratopsians, formed aggregations of immature individuals. One example is a site in Inner Mongolia that has yielded remains of over 20 Sinornithomimus, from one to seven years old. This assemblage is interpreted as a social group that was trapped in mud.[165] The interpretation of dinosaurs as gregarious has also extended to depicting carnivorous theropods as pack hunters working together to bring down large prey.[166][167] However, this lifestyle is uncommon among modern birds, crocodiles, and other reptiles, and the taphonomic evidence suggesting mammal-like pack hunting in such theropods as Deinonychus and Allosaurus can also be interpreted as the results of fatal disputes between feeding animals, as is seen in many modern diapsid predators.[168] Restoration of two Centrosaurus apertus engaged in intra-specific combat The crests and frills of some dinosaurs, like the marginocephalians, theropods and lambeosaurines, may have been too fragile to be used for active defense, and so they were likely used for sexual or aggressive displays, though little is known about dinosaur mating and territorialism. Head wounds from bites suggest that theropods, at least, engaged in active aggressive confrontations.[169] From a behavioral standpoint, one of the most valuable dinosaur fossils was discovered in the Gobi Desert in 1971. It included a Velociraptor attacking a Protoceratops,[170] providing evidence that dinosaurs did indeed attack each other.[171] Additional evidence for attacking live prey is the partially healed tail of an Edmontosaurus, a hadrosaurid dinosaur; the tail is damaged in such a way that shows the animal was bitten by a tyrannosaur but survived.[171] Cannibalism amongst some species of dinosaurs was confirmed by tooth marks found in Madagascar in 2003, involving the theropod Majungasaurus.[172] Comparisons between the scleral rings of dinosaurs and modern birds and reptiles have been used to infer daily activity patterns of dinosaurs. Although it has been suggested that most dinosaurs were active during the day, these comparisons have shown that small predatory dinosaurs such as dromaeosaurids, Juravenator, and Megapnosaurus were likely nocturnal. Large and medium-sized herbivorous and omnivorous dinosaurs such as ceratopsians, sauropodomorphs, hadrosaurids, ornithomimosaurs may have been cathemeral, active during short intervals throughout the day, although the small ornithischian Agilisaurus was inferred to be diurnal.[173] Based on fossil evidence from dinosaurs such as Oryctodromeus, some ornithischian species seem to have led a partially fossorial (burrowing) lifestyle.[174] Many modern birds are arboreal (tree climbing), and this was also true of many Mesozoic birds, especially the enantiornithines.[175] While some early bird-like species may have already been arboreal as well (including dromaeosaurids) such as Microraptor[176]) most non-avialan dinosaurs seem to have relied on land-based locomotion. A good understanding of how dinosaurs moved on the ground is key to models of dinosaur behavior; the science of biomechanics, pioneered by Robert McNeill Alexander, has provided significant insight in this area. For example, studies of the forces exerted by muscles and gravity on dinosaurs' skeletal structure have investigated how fast dinosaurs could run,[136] whether diplodocids could create sonic booms via whip-like tail snapping,[177] and whether sauropods could float.[178] Communication Modern birds are known to communicate using visual and auditory signals, and the wide diversity of visual display structures among fossil dinosaur groups, such as horns, frills, crests, sails, and feathers, suggests that visual communication has always been important in dinosaur biology.[179] Reconstruction of the plumage color of Anchiornis, suggest the importance of color in visual communication in non-avian dinosaurs.[180] Vocalization in non-avian dinosaurs is less certain. In birds, the larynx plays no role in sound production. Instead they vocalize with a novel organ called the syrinx, located further down the trachea.[181] The earliest remains of a syrinx was found in a specimen of the duck-like Vegavis iaai dated 69 –66 million years ago, and this organ is unlikely to have existed in non-avian dinosaurs.[182] Restoration of a striking and unusual visual display in a Lambeosaurus magnicristatus. The crest could also have acted as a resonating chamber for sounds Paleontologist Phil Senter has suggested that non-avian dinosaurs relied mostly on visual displays and possibly non-vocal acoustic sounds like hissing, jaw grinding or clapping, splashing and wing beating (possible in winged maniraptoran dinosaurs). He states they were unlikely to have been capable of vocalizing since their closest relatives, crocodilians and birds, use different means to vocalize, the larynx and syrinx respectively, indicating their common ancestor was mute.[179] Other researchers have countered that vocalizations also exist in turtles, the closest relatives of archosaurs, suggesting that the trait is ancestral to their lineage. In addition, vocal communication in dinosaurs is indicated by the development of advanced hearing in nearly all major groups. Hence the syrinx may have supplemented and then replaced the larynx as a vocal organ rather than there being a "silent period" in bird evolution.[183] In 2023, a fossilized larynx was described from a specimen of the ankylosaurid Pinacosaurus. The structure was composed of cricoid and arytenoid cartilages, similar to those of non-avian reptiles. However, the mobile cricoid-arytenoid joint and long arytenoid cartilages would have allowed for air-flow control similar to that of birds, and thus could have made bird-like vocalizations. In addition, the cartilages were ossified, implying that laryngeal ossification is a feature of some non-avian dinosaurs.[184] A 2016 study concludes that some dinosaurs may have produced closed mouth vocalizations like cooing, hooting and booming. These occur in both reptiles and birds and involve inflating the esophagus or tracheal pouches. Such vocalizations evolved independently in extant archosaurs numerous times, following increases in body size.[185] The crests of some hadrosaurids and the nasal chambers of ankylosaurids have been suggested to have functioned in acoustic resonance.[186][187] Reproductive biology See also: Dinosaur egg Three bluish eggs with black speckling sit atop a layer of white mollusk shell pieces, surrounded by sandy ground and small bits of bluish stone Nest of a plover (Charadrius) All dinosaurs laid amniotic eggs. Dinosaur eggs were usually laid in a nest. Most species create somewhat elaborate nests which can be cups, domes, plates, beds scrapes, mounds, or burrows.[188] Some species of modern bird have no nests; the cliff-nesting common guillemot lays its eggs on bare rock, and male emperor penguins keep eggs between their body and feet. Primitive birds and many non-avialan dinosaurs often lay eggs in communal nests, with males primarily incubating the eggs. While modern birds have only one functional oviduct and lay one egg at a time, more primitive birds and dinosaurs had two oviducts, like crocodiles. Some non-avialan dinosaurs, such as Troodon, exhibited iterative laying, where the adult might lay a pair of eggs every one or two days, and then ensured simultaneous hatching by delaying brooding until all eggs were laid.[189] When laying eggs, females grow a special type of bone between the hard outer bone and the marrow of their limbs. This medullary bone, which is rich in calcium, is used to make eggshells. A discovery of features in a Tyrannosaurus skeleton provided evidence of medullary bone in extinct dinosaurs and, for the first time, allowed paleontologists to establish the sex of a fossil dinosaur specimen. Further research has found medullary bone in the carnosaur Allosaurus and the ornithopod Tenontosaurus. Because the line of dinosaurs that includes Allosaurus and Tyrannosaurus diverged from the line that led to Tenontosaurus very early in the evolution of dinosaurs, this suggests that the production of medullary tissue is a general characteristic of all dinosaurs.[190] Fossil interpreted as a nesting oviraptorid Citipati at the American Museum of Natural History. Smaller fossil far right showing inside one of the eggs. Another widespread trait among modern birds (but see below in regards to fossil groups and extant megapodes) is parental care for young after hatching. Jack Horner's 1978 discovery of a Maiasaura ("good mother lizard") nesting ground in Montana demonstrated that parental care continued long after birth among ornithopods.[191] A specimen of the oviraptorid Citipati osmolskae was discovered in a chicken-like brooding position in 1993,[192] which may indicate that they had begun using an insulating layer of feathers to keep the eggs warm.[193] An embryo of the basal sauropodomorph Massospondylus was found without teeth, indicating that some parental care was required to feed the young dinosaurs.[194] Trackways have also confirmed parental behavior among ornithopods from the Isle of Skye in northwestern Scotland.[195] However, there is ample evidence of precociality or superprecociality among many dinosaur species, particularly theropods. For instance, non-ornithuromorph birds have been abundantly demonstrated to have had slow growth rates, megapode-like egg burying behavior and the ability to fly soon after birth.[196][197][198][199] Both Tyrannosaurus and Troodon had juveniles with clear superprecociality and likely occupying different ecological niches than the adults.[189] Superprecociality has been inferred for sauropods.[200] Genital structures are unlikely to fossilize as they lack scales that may allow preservation via pigmentation or residual calcium phosphate salts. In 2021, the best preserved specimen of a dinosaur's cloacal vent exterior was described for Psittacosaurus, demonstrating lateral swellings similar to crocodylian musk glands used in social displays by both sexes and pigmented regions which could also reflect a signalling function. However, this specimen on its own does not offer enough information to determine whether this dinosaur had sexual signalling functions; it only supports the possibility. Cloacal visual signalling can occur in either males or females in living birds, making it unlikely to be useful to determine sex for extinct dinosaurs.[201] Physiology Main article: Physiology of dinosaurs Because both modern crocodilians and birds have four-chambered hearts (albeit modified in crocodilians), it is likely that this is a trait shared by all archosaurs, including all dinosaurs.[202] While all modern birds have high metabolisms and are endothermic ("warm-blooded"), a vigorous debate has been ongoing since the 1960s regarding how far back in the dinosaur lineage this trait extended. Various researchers have supported dinosaurs as being endothermic, ectothermic ("cold-blooded"), or somewhere in between.[203] An emerging consensus among researchers is that, while different lineages of dinosaurs would have had different metabolisms, most of them had higher metabolic rates than other reptiles but lower than living birds and mammals,[204] which is termed mesothermy by some.[205] Evidence from crocodiles and their extinct relatives suggests that such elevated metabolisms could have developed in the earliest archosaurs, which were the common ancestors of dinosaurs and crocodiles.[206][207] This 1897 restoration of Brontosaurus as an aquatic, tail-dragging animal, by Charles R. Knight, typified early views on dinosaur lifestyles. After non-avian dinosaurs were discovered, paleontologists first posited that they were ectothermic. This was used to imply that the ancient dinosaurs were relatively slow, sluggish organisms, even though many modern reptiles are fast and light-footed despite relying on external sources of heat to regulate their body temperature. The idea of dinosaurs as ectothermic remained a prevalent view until Robert T. Bakker, an early proponent of dinosaur endothermy, published an influential paper on the topic in 1968. Bakker specifically used anatomical and ecological evidence to argue that sauropods, which had hitherto been depicted as sprawling aquatic animals with their tails dragging on the ground, were endotherms that lived vigorous, terrestrial lives. In 1972, Bakker expanded on his arguments based on energy requirements and predator-prey ratios. This was one of the seminal results that led to the dinosaur renaissance.[63][64][60][208] One of the greatest contributions to the modern understanding of dinosaur physiology has been paleohistology, the study of microscopic tissue structure in dinosaurs.[209][210] From the 1960s forward, Armand de Ricqlès suggested that the presence of fibrolamellar bone—bony tissue with an irregular, fibrous texture and filled with blood vessels—was indicative of consistently fast growth and therefore endothermy. Fibrolamellar bone was common in both dinosaurs and pterosaurs,[211][212] though not universally present.[213][214] This has led to a significant body of work in reconstructing growth curves and modeling the evolution of growth rates across various dinosaur lineages,[215] which has suggested overall that dinosaurs grew faster than living reptiles.[210] Other lines of evidence suggesting endothermy include the presence of feathers and other types of body coverings in many lineages (see § Feathers); more consistent ratios of the isotope oxygen-18 in bony tissue compared to ectotherms, particularly as latitude and thus air temperature varied, which suggests stable internal temperatures[216][217] (although these ratios can be altered during fossilization[218]); and the discovery of polar dinosaurs, which lived in Australia, Antarctica, and Alaska when these places would have had cool, temperate climates.[219][220][221][222] Comparison between the air sacs of an abelisaur and a bird In saurischian dinosaurs, higher metabolisms were supported by the evolution of the avian respiratory system, characterized by an extensive system of air sacs that extended the lungs and invaded many of the bones in the skeleton, making them hollow.[223] Such respiratory systems, which may have appeared in the earliest saurischians,[224] would have provided them with more oxygen compared to a mammal of similar size, while also having a larger resting tidal volume and requiring a lower breathing frequency, which would have allowed them to sustain higher activity levels.[142] The rapid airflow would also have been an effective cooling mechanism, which in conjunction with a lower metabolic rate[225] would have prevented large sauropods from overheating. These traits may have enabled sauropods to grow quickly to gigantic sizes.[226][227] Sauropods may also have benefitted from their size—their small surface area to volume ratio meant that they would have been able to thermoregulate more easily, a phenomenon termed gigantothermy.[142][228] Like other reptiles, dinosaurs are primarily uricotelic, that is, their kidneys extract nitrogenous wastes from their bloodstream and excrete it as uric acid instead of urea or ammonia via the ureters into the intestine. This would have helped them to conserve water.[204] In most living species, uric acid is excreted along with feces as a semisolid waste.[229][230] However, at least some modern birds (such as hummingbirds) can be facultatively ammonotelic, excreting most of the nitrogenous wastes as ammonia.[231] This material, as well as the output of the intestines, emerges from the cloaca.[232][233] In addition, many species regurgitate pellets,[234] and fossil pellets are known as early as the Jurassic from Anchiornis.[235] The size and shape of the brain can be partly reconstructed based on the surrounding bones. In 1896, Marsh calculated ratios between brain weight and body weight of seven species of dinosaurs, showing that the brain of dinosaurs was proportionally smaller than in today's crocodiles, and that the brain of Stegosaurus was smaller than in any living land vertebrate. This contributed to the widespread public notion of dinosaurs as being sluggish and extraordinarily stupid. Harry Jerison, in 1973, showed that proportionally smaller brains are expected at larger body sizes, and that brain size in dinosaurs was not smaller than expected when compared to living reptiles.[236] Later research showed that relative brain size progressively increased during the evolution of theropods, with the highest intelligence – comparable to that of modern birds – calculated for the troodontid Troodon.[237] Origin of birds Main article: Origin of birds The possibility that dinosaurs were the ancestors of birds was first suggested in 1868 by Thomas Henry Huxley.[238] After the work of Gerhard Heilmann in the early 20th century, the theory of birds as dinosaur descendants was abandoned in favor of the idea of them being descendants of generalized thecodonts, with the key piece of evidence being the supposed lack of clavicles in dinosaurs.[239] However, as later discoveries showed, clavicles (or a single fused wishbone, which derived from separate clavicles) were not actually absent;[14] they had been found as early as 1924 in Oviraptor, but misidentified as an interclavicle.[240] In the 1970s, Ostrom revived the dinosaur–bird theory,[241] which gained momentum in the coming decades with the advent of cladistic analysis,[242] and a great increase in the discovery of small theropods and early birds.[32] Of particular note have been the fossils of the Jehol Biota, where a variety of theropods and early birds have been found, often with feathers of some type.[70][14] Birds share over a hundred distinct anatomical features with theropod dinosaurs, which are now generally accepted to have been their closest ancient relatives.[243] They are most closely allied with maniraptoran coelurosaurs.[14] A minority of scientists, most notably Alan Feduccia and Larry Martin, have proposed other evolutionary paths, including revised versions of Heilmann's basal archosaur proposal,[244] or that maniraptoran theropods are the ancestors of birds but themselves are not dinosaurs, only convergent with dinosaurs.[245] Feathers Main article: Feathered dinosaurs Various feathered non-avian dinosaurs, including Archaeopteryx, Anchiornis, Microraptor and Zhenyuanlong Feathers are one of the most recognizable characteristics of modern birds, and a trait that was also shared by several non-avian dinosaurs. Based on the current distribution of fossil evidence, it appears that feathers were an ancestral dinosaurian trait, though one that may have been selectively lost in some species.[246] Direct fossil evidence of feathers or feather-like structures has been discovered in a diverse array of species in many non-avian dinosaur groups,[70] both among saurischians and ornithischians. Simple, branched, feather-like structures are known from heterodontosaurids, primitive neornithischians,[247] and theropods,[248] and primitive ceratopsians. Evidence for true, vaned feathers similar to the flight feathers of modern birds has been found only in the theropod subgroup Maniraptora, which includes oviraptorosaurs, troodontids, dromaeosaurids, and birds.[14][249] Feather-like structures known as pycnofibres have also been found in pterosaurs.[250] However, researchers do not agree regarding whether these structures share a common origin between lineages (i.e., they are homologous),[251][252] or if they were the result of widespread experimentation with skin coverings among ornithodirans.[253] If the former is the case, filaments may have been common in the ornithodiran lineage and evolved before the appearance of dinosaurs themselves.[246] Research into the genetics of American alligators has revealed that crocodylian scutes do possess feather-keratins during embryonic development, but these keratins are not expressed by the animals before hatching.[254] The description of feathered dinosaurs has not been without controversy in general; perhaps the most vocal critics have been Alan Feduccia and Theagarten Lingham-Soliar, who have proposed that some purported feather-like fossils are the result of the decomposition of collagenous fiber that underlaid the dinosaurs' skin,[255][256][257] and that maniraptoran dinosaurs with vaned feathers were not actually dinosaurs, but convergent with dinosaurs.[245][256] However, their views have for the most part not been accepted by other researchers, to the point that the scientific nature of Feduccia's proposals has been questioned.[258] Archaeopteryx was the first fossil found that revealed a potential connection between dinosaurs and birds. It is considered a transitional fossil, in that it displays features of both groups. Brought to light just two years after Charles Darwin's seminal On the Origin of Species (1859), its discovery spurred the nascent debate between proponents of evolutionary biology and creationism. This early bird is so dinosaur-like that, without a clear impression of feathers in the surrounding rock, at least one specimen was mistaken for the small theropod Compsognathus.[259] Since the 1990s, a number of additional feathered dinosaurs have been found, providing even stronger evidence of the close relationship between dinosaurs and modern birds. Many of these specimens were unearthed in the lagerstätten of the Jehol Biota.[252] If feather-like structures were indeed widely present among non-avian dinosaurs, the lack of abundant fossil evidence for them may be due to the fact that delicate features like skin and feathers are seldom preserved by fossilization and thus often absent from the fossil record.[260] Skeleton Because feathers are often associated with birds, feathered dinosaurs are often touted as the missing link between birds and dinosaurs. However, the multiple skeletal features also shared by the two groups represent another important line of evidence for paleontologists. Areas of the skeleton with important similarities include the neck, pubis, wrist (semi-lunate carpal), arm and pectoral girdle, furcula (wishbone), and breast bone. Comparison of bird and dinosaur skeletons through cladistic analysis strengthens the case for the link.[261] Soft anatomy Pneumatopores on the left ilium of Aerosteon riocoloradensis Large meat-eating dinosaurs had a complex system of air sacs similar to those found in modern birds, according to a 2005 investigation led by Patrick M. O'Connor. The lungs of theropod dinosaurs (carnivores that walked on two legs and had bird-like feet) likely pumped air into hollow sacs in their skeletons, as is the case in birds. "What was once formally considered unique to birds was present in some form in the ancestors of birds", O'Connor said.[262][263] In 2008, scientists described Aerosteon riocoloradensis, the skeleton of which supplies the strongest evidence to date of a dinosaur with a bird-like breathing system. CT scanning of Aerosteon's fossil bones revealed evidence for the existence of air sacs within the animal's body cavity.[223][264] Behavioral evidence Fossils of the troodonts Mei and Sinornithoides demonstrate that some dinosaurs slept with their heads tucked under their arms.[265] This behavior, which may have helped to keep the head warm, is also characteristic of modern birds. Several deinonychosaur and oviraptorosaur specimens have also been found preserved on top of their nests, likely brooding in a bird-like manner.[266] The ratio between egg volume and body mass of adults among these dinosaurs suggest that the eggs were primarily brooded by the male, and that the young were highly precocial, similar to many modern ground-dwelling birds.[267] Some dinosaurs are known to have used gizzard stones like modern birds. These stones are swallowed by animals to aid digestion and break down food and hard fibers once they enter the stomach. When found in association with fossils, gizzard stones are called gastroliths.[268] Extinction of major groups Main article: Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event All non-avian dinosaurs and most lineages of birds[269] became extinct in a mass extinction event, called the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K-Pg) extinction event, at the end of the Cretaceous period. Above the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary, which has been dated to 66.038 ± 0.025 million years ago,[270] fossils of non-avian dinosaurs disappear abruptly; the absence of dinosaur fossils was historically used to assign rocks to the ensuing Cenozoic. The nature of the event that caused this mass extinction has been extensively studied since the 1970s, leading to the development of two mechanisms that are thought to have played major roles: an extraterrestrial impact event in the Yucatán Peninsula, along with flood basalt volcanism in India. However, the specific mechanisms of the extinction event and the extent of its effects on dinosaurs are still areas of ongoing research.[271] Alongside dinosaurs, many other groups of animals became extinct: pterosaurs, marine reptiles such as mosasaurs and plesiosaurs, several groups of mammals, ammonites (nautilus-like mollusks), rudists (reef-building bivalves), and various groups of marine plankton.[272][273] In all, approximately 47% of genera and 76% of species on Earth became extinct during the K-Pg extinction event.[274] The relatively large size of most dinosaurs and the low diversity of small-bodied dinosaur species at the end of the Cretaceous may have contributed to their extinction;[275] the extinction of the bird lineages that did not survive may also have been caused by a dependence on forest habitats or a lack of adaptations to eating seeds for survival.[276][277] Pre-extinction diversity Just before the K-Pg extinction event, the number of non-avian dinosaur species that existed globally has been estimated at between 628 and 1078.[278] It remains uncertain whether the diversity of dinosaurs was in gradual decline before the K-Pg extinction event, or whether dinosaurs were actually thriving prior to the extinction. Rock formations from the Maastrichtian epoch, which directly preceded the extinction, have been found to have lower diversity than the preceding Campanian epoch, which led to the prevailing view of a long-term decline in diversity.[272][273][279] However, these comparisons did not account either for varying preservation potential between rock units or for different extents of exploration and excavation.[271] In 1984, Dale Russell carried out an analysis to account for these biases, and found no evidence of a decline;[280] another analysis by David Fastovsky and colleagues in 2004 even showed that dinosaur diversity continually increased until the extinction,[281] but this analysis has been rebutted.[282] Since then, different approaches based on statistics and mathematical models have variously supported either a sudden extinction[271][278][283] or a gradual decline.[284][285] End-Cretaceous trends in diversity may have varied between dinosaur lineages: it has been suggested that sauropods were not in decline, while ornithischians and theropods were in decline.[286][287] Impact event Main article: Chicxulub crater Luis (left) and his son Walter Alvarez (right) at the K-T Boundary in Gubbio, Italy, 1981 The Chicxulub Crater at the tip of the Yucatán Peninsula; the impactor that formed this crater may have caused the dinosaur extinction. The bolide impact hypothesis, first brought to wide attention in 1980 by Walter Alvarez, Luis Alvarez, and colleagues, attributes the K-Pg extinction event to a bolide (extraterrestrial projectile) impact.[288] Alvarez and colleagues proposed that a sudden increase in iridium levels, recorded around the world in rock deposits at the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary, was direct evidence of the impact.[289] Shocked quartz, indicative of a strong shockwave emanating from an impact, was also found worldwide.[290] The actual impact site remained elusive until a crater measuring 180 km (110 mi) wide was discovered in the Yucatán Peninsula of southeastern Mexico, and was publicized in a 1991 paper by Alan Hildebrand and colleagues.[291] Now, the bulk of the evidence suggests that a bolide 5 to 15 kilometers (3 to 9+1⁄2 miles) wide impacted the Yucatán Peninsula 66 million years ago, forming this crater[292] and creating a "kill mechanism" that triggered the extinction event.[293][294][295] Within hours, the Chicxulub impact would have created immediate effects such as earthquakes,[296] tsunamis,[297] and a global firestorm that likely killed unsheltered animals and started wildfires.[298][299] However, it would also have had longer-term consequences for the environment. Within days, sulfate aerosols released from rocks at the impact site would have contributed to acid rain and ocean acidification.[300][301] Soot aerosols are thought to have spread around the world over the ensuing months and years; they would have cooled the surface of the Earth by reflecting thermal radiation, and greatly slowed photosynthesis by blocking out sunlight, thus creating an impact winter.[271][302][303] (This role was ascribed to sulfate aerosols until experiments demonstrated otherwise.[301]) The cessation of photosynthesis would have led to the collapse of food webs depending on leafy plants, which included all dinosaurs save for grain-eating birds.[277] Deccan Traps Main article: Deccan Traps At the time of the K-Pg extinction, the Deccan Traps flood basalts of India were actively erupting. The eruptions can be separated into three phases around the K-Pg boundary, two prior to the boundary and one after. The second phase, which occurred very close to the boundary, would have extruded 70 to 80% of the volume of these eruptions in intermittent pulses that occurred around 100,000 years apart.[304][305] Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide would have been released by this volcanic activity,[306][307] resulting in climate change through temperature perturbations of roughly 3 °C (5.4 °F) but possibly as high as 7 °C (13 °F).[308] Like the Chicxulub impact, the eruptions may also have released sulfate aerosols, which would have caused acid rain and global cooling.[309] However, due to large error margins in the dating of the eruptions, the role of the Deccan Traps in the K-Pg extinction remains unclear.[270][271][310] Before 2000, arguments that the Deccan Traps eruptions—as opposed to the Chicxulub impact—caused the extinction were usually linked to the view that the extinction was gradual. Prior to the discovery of the Chicxulub crater, the Deccan Traps were used to explain the global iridium layer;[306][311] even after the crater's discovery, the impact was still thought to only have had a regional, not global, effect on the extinction event.[312] In response, Luis Alvarez rejected volcanic activity as an explanation for the iridium layer and the extinction as a whole.[313] Since then, however, most researchers have adopted a more moderate position, which identifies the Chicxulub impact as the primary progenitor of the extinction while also recognizing that the Deccan Traps may also have played a role. Walter Alvarez himself has acknowledged that the Deccan Traps and other ecological factors may have contributed to the extinctions in addition to the Chicxulub impact.[314] Some estimates have placed the start of the second phase in the Deccan Traps eruptions within 50,000 years after the Chicxulub impact.[315] Combined with mathematical modelling of the seismic waves that would have been generated by the impact, this has led to the suggestion that the Chicxulub impact may have triggered these eruptions by increasing the permeability of the mantle plume underlying the Deccan Traps.[316][317] Whether the Deccan Traps were a major cause of the extinction, on par with the Chicxulub impact, remains uncertain. Proponents consider the climatic impact of the sulfur dioxide released to have been on par with the Chicxulub impact, and also note the role of flood basalt volcanism in other mass extinctions like the Permian-Triassic extinction event.[318][319] They consider the Chicxulub impact to have worsened the ongoing climate change caused by the eruptions.[320] Meanwhile, detractors point out the sudden nature of the extinction and that other pulses in Deccan Traps activity of comparable magnitude did not appear to have caused extinctions. They also contend that the causes of different mass extinctions should be assessed separately.[321] In 2020, Alfio Chiarenza and colleagues suggested that the Deccan Traps may even have had the opposite effect: they suggested that the long-term warming caused by its carbon dioxide emissions may have dampened the impact winter from the Chicxulub impact.[295] Possible Paleocene survivors Non-avian dinosaur remains have occasionally been found above the K-Pg boundary. In 2000, Spencer Lucas and colleagues reported the discovery of a single hadrosaur right femur in the San Juan Basin of New Mexico, and described it as evidence of Paleocene dinosaurs. The rock unit in which the bone was discovered has been dated to the early Paleocene epoch, approximately 64.8 million years ago.[322] If the bone was not re-deposited by weathering action, it would provide evidence that some dinosaur populations survived at least half a million years into the Cenozoic.[323] Other evidence includes the presence of dinosaur remains in the Hell Creek Formation up to 1.3 m (4.3 ft) above the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary, representing 40,000 years of elapsed time. This has been used to support the view that the K-Pg extinction was gradual.[324] However, these supposed Paleocene dinosaurs are considered by many other researchers to be reworked, that is, washed out of their original locations and then re-buried in younger sediments.[325][326][327] The age estimates have also been considered unreliable.[328] Cultural depictions Main article: Cultural depictions of dinosaurs Outdated Iguanodon statues created by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins for the Crystal Palace Park in 1853 Gertie the Dinosaur (1914) by Winsor McCay, featuring the first animated dinosaur By human standards, dinosaurs were creatures of fantastic appearance and often enormous size. As such, they have captured the popular imagination and become an enduring part of human culture. The entry of the word "dinosaur" into the common vernacular reflects the animals' cultural importance: in English, "dinosaur" is commonly used to describe anything that is impractically large, obsolete, or bound for extinction.[329] Public enthusiasm for dinosaurs first developed in Victorian England, where in 1854, three decades after the first scientific descriptions of dinosaur remains, a menagerie of lifelike dinosaur sculptures was unveiled in London's Crystal Palace Park. The Crystal Palace dinosaurs proved so popular that a strong market in smaller replicas soon developed. In subsequent decades, dinosaur exhibits opened at parks and museums around the world, ensuring that successive generations would be introduced to the animals in an immersive and exciting way.[330] The enduring popularity of dinosaurs, in its turn, has resulted in significant public funding for dinosaur science, and has frequently spurred new discoveries. In the United States, for example, the competition between museums for public attention led directly to the Bone Wars of the 1880s and 1890s, during which a pair of feuding paleontologists made enormous scientific contributions.[331] The popular preoccupation with dinosaurs has ensured their appearance in literature, film, and other media. Beginning in 1852 with a passing mention in Charles Dickens' Bleak House,[332] dinosaurs have been featured in large numbers of fictional works. Jules Verne's 1864 novel Journey to the Center of the Earth, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 1912 book The Lost World, the 1914 animated film Gertie the Dinosaur (featuring the first animated dinosaur), the iconic 1933 film King Kong, the 1954 Godzilla and its many sequels, the best-selling 1990 novel Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton and its 1993 film adaptation are just a few notable examples of dinosaur appearances in fiction. Authors of general-interest non-fiction works about dinosaurs, including some prominent paleontologists, have often sought to use the animals as a way to educate readers about science in general. Dinosaurs are ubiquitous in advertising; numerous companies have referenced dinosaurs in printed or televised advertisements, either in order to sell their own products or in order to characterize their rivals as slow-moving, dim-witted, or obsolete." (wikipedia.org) "The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in October 1982 in Japan and branded as Digital Audio Compact Disc. It was released on March 2, 1983 in North America and Europe. The format was later adapted (as CD-ROM) for general-purpose data storage. Several other formats were further derived, including write-once audio and data storage (CD-R), rewritable media (CD-RW), Video CD (VCD), Super Video CD (SVCD), Photo CD, Picture CD, Compact Disc-Interactive (CD-i) and Enhanced Music CD. Standard CDs have a diameter of 120 millimetres (4.7 in) and are designed to hold up to 74 minutes of uncompressed stereo digital audio or about 650 MiB of data. Capacity is routinely extended to 80 minutes and 700 MiB by arranging data more closely on the same-sized disc. The Mini CD has various diameters ranging from 60 to 80 millimetres (2.4 to 3.1 in); they are sometimes used for CD singles, storing up to 24 minutes of audio, or delivering device drivers. At the time of the technology's introduction in 1982, a CD could store much more data than a personal computer hard disk drive, which would typically hold 10 MiB. By 2010, hard drives commonly offered as much storage space as a thousand CDs, while their prices had plummeted to commodity levels. In 2004, worldwide sales of audio CDs, CD-ROMs, and CD-Rs reached about 30 billion discs. By 2007, 200 billion CDs had been sold worldwide.[3] Physical details      This section needs additional citations for verification. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) See also: Shaped compact disc Diagram of CD layers     A polycarbonate disc layer has the data encoded by using bumps.     A shiny layer reflects the laser.     A layer of lacquer protects the shiny layer.     Artwork is screen printed on the top of the disc.     A laser beam is reflected off the CD to a sensor, which converts it into electronic data. A CD is made from 1.2-millimetre (0.047 in) thick, polycarbonate plastic, and weighs 14–33 grams.[4] From the center outward, components are: the center spindle hole (15 mm), the first-transition area (clamping ring), the clamping area (stacking ring), the second-transition area (mirror band), the program (data) area, and the rim. The inner program area occupies a radius from 25 to 58 mm. A thin layer of aluminum or, more rarely, gold is applied to the surface, making it reflective. The metal is protected by a film of lacquer normally spin coated directly on the reflective layer. The label is printed on the lacquer layer, usually by screen printing or offset printing. Pits and Lands of a compact disc under a microscope CD data is represented as tiny indentations known as pits, encoded in a spiral track moulded into the top of the polycarbonate layer. The areas between pits are known as lands. Each pit is approximately 100 nm deep by 500 nm wide, and varies from 850 nm to 3.5 µm in length.[5] The distance between the tracks (the pitch) is 1.6 µm.[6][7][8] When playing an audio CD, a motor within the CD player spins the disc to a scanning velocity of 1.2–1.4 m/s (constant linear velocity, CLV)—equivalent to approximately 500 RPM at the inside of the disc, and approximately 200 RPM at the outside edge. The track on the CD begins at the inside and spirals outward so a disc played from beginning to end slows its rotation rate during playback. Comparison of various optical storage media The program area is 86.05 cm2 and the length of the recordable spiral is 86.05 cm2 / 1.6 µm = 5.38 km. With a scanning speed of 1.2 m/s, the playing time is 74 minutes or 650 MiB of data on a CD-ROM. A disc with data packed slightly more densely is tolerated by most players (though some old ones fail). Using a linear velocity of 1.2 m/s and a narrower track pitch of 1.5 µm increases the playing time to 80 minutes, and data capacity to 700 MiB. This is a photomicrograph of the pits at the inner edge of a CD-ROM; 2-second exposure under visible fluorescent light. The pits in a CD are 500 nm wide, between 830 nm and 3,000 nm long and 150 nm deep. A CD is read by focusing a 780 nm wavelength (near infrared) semiconductor laser through the bottom of the polycarbonate layer. The change in height between pits and lands results in a difference in the way the light is reflected. Because the pits are indented into the top layer of the disc and are read through the transparent polycarbonate base, the pits form bumps when read.[9] The laser hits the disc, casting a circle of light wider than the modulated spiral track reflecting partially from the lands and partially from the top of any bumps where they are present. As the laser passes over a pit (bump), its height means that the part of the light reflected from its peak is 1/2 wavelength out of phase with the light reflected from the land around it. This causes partial cancellation of the laser's reflection from the surface. By measuring the reflected intensity change with a photodiode, a modulated signal is read back from the disc. To accommodate the spiral pattern of data, the laser is placed on a mobile mechanism within the disc tray of any CD player. This mechanism typically takes the form of a sled that moves along a rail. The sled can be driven by a worm gear or linear motor. Where a worm gear is used, a second shorter-throw linear motor, in the form of a coil and magnet, makes fine position adjustments to track eccentricities in the disk at high speed. Some CD drives (particularly those manufactured by Philips during the 1980s and early 1990s) use a swing arm similar to that seen on a gramophone. This mechanism allows the laser to read information from the center to the edge of a disc without having to interrupt the spinning of the disc itself.[further explanation needed] Philips CDM210 CD Drive The pits and lands do not directly represent the 0s and 1s of binary data. Instead, non-return-to-zero, inverted encoding is used: a change from either pit to land or land to pit indicates a 1, while no change indicates a series of 0s. There must be at least two, and no more than ten 0s between each 1, which is defined by the length of the pit. This, in turn, is decoded by reversing the eight-to-fourteen modulation used in mastering the disc, and then reversing the cross-interleaved Reed–Solomon coding, finally revealing the raw data stored on the disc. These encoding techniques (defined in the Red Book) were originally designed for CD Digital Audio, but they later became a standard for almost all CD formats (such as CD-ROM)....Disc shapes and diameters Comparison of several forms of disk storage showing tracks (not to scale); green denotes start and red denotes end. * Some CD-R(W) and DVD-R(W)/DVD+R(W) recorders operate in ZCLV, CAA or CAV modes. The digital data on a CD begins at the center of the disc and proceeds toward the edge, which allows adaptation to the different sizes available. Standard CDs are available in two sizes. By far, the most common is 120 millimetres (4.7 in) in diameter, with a 74- or 80-minute audio capacity and a 650 or 700 MiB (737,280,000-byte) data capacity. Discs are 1.2 millimetres (0.047 in) thick, with a 15 millimetres (0.59 in) center hole. The size of the hole was chosen by Joop Sinjou and based on a Dutch 10-cent coin: a dubbeltje.[15] Philips/Sony patented the physical dimensions.[16] The official Philips history says the capacity was specified by Sony executive Norio Ohga to be able to contain the entirety of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony on one disc.[17] Kees Schouhamer Immink received a personal technical Emmy award for his contributions to the coding technologies of the Compact Disc, DVD, and Blu-ray disc. This is a myth according to Kees Immink, as the EFM code format had not yet been decided in December 1979, when the 120 mm size was adopted. The adoption of EFM in June 1980 allowed 30 percent more playing time that would have resulted in 97 minutes for 120 mm diameter or 74 minutes for a disc as small as 100 millimetres (3.9 in). Instead, however, the information density was lowered by 30 percent to keep the playing time at 74 minutes.[18][19][20] The 120 mm diameter has been adopted by subsequent formats, including Super Audio CD, DVD, HD DVD, and Blu-ray Disc. The 80-millimetre (3.1 in) diameter discs ("Mini CDs") can hold up to 24 minutes of music or 210 MiB. Physical size     Audio capacity     CD-ROM data capacity     Definition 120 mm     74–80 min     650–700 MB     Standard size 80 mm     21–24 min     185–210 MB     Mini-CD size 80×54 mm – 80×64 mm     ~6 min     10–65 MB     "Business card" size Logical format     This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Audio CD Main article: Compact Disc Digital Audio The logical format of an audio CD (officially Compact Disc Digital Audio or CD-DA) is described in a document produced in 1980 by the format's joint creators, Sony and Philips.[21] The document is known colloquially as the Red Book CD-DA after the color of its cover. The format is a two-channel 16-bit PCM encoding at a 44.1 kHz sampling rate per channel. Four-channel sound was to be an allowable option within the Red Book format, but has never been implemented. Monaural audio has no existing standard on a Red Book CD; thus, the mono source material is usually presented as two identical channels in a standard Red Book stereo track (i.e., mirrored mono); an MP3 CD, however, can have audio file formats with mono sound. CD-Text is an extension of the Red Book specification for an audio CD that allows for the storage of additional text information (e.g., album name, song name, artist) on a standards-compliant audio CD. The information is stored either in the lead-in area of the CD, where there are roughly five kilobytes of space available or in the subcode channels R to W on the disc, which can store about 31 megabytes. Compact Disc + Graphics is a special audio compact disc that contains graphics data in addition to the audio data on the disc. The disc can be played on a regular audio CD player, but when played on a special CD+G player, it can output a graphics signal (typically, the CD+G player is hooked up to a television set or a computer monitor); these graphics are almost exclusively used to display lyrics on a television set for karaoke performers to sing along with. The CD+G format takes advantage of the channels R through W. These six bits store the graphics information. CD + Extended Graphics (CD+EG, also known as CD+XG) is an improved variant of the Compact Disc + Graphics (CD+G) format. Like CD+G, CD+EG uses basic CD-ROM features to display text and video information in addition to the music being played. This extra data is stored in subcode channels R-W. Very few, if any, CD+EG discs have been published. Super Audio CD Main article: Super Audio CD Super Audio CD (SACD) is a high-resolution, read-only optical audio disc format that was designed to provide higher-fidelity digital audio reproduction than the Red Book. Introduced in 1999, it was developed by Sony and Philips, the same companies that created the Red Book. SACD was in a format war with DVD-Audio, but neither has replaced audio CDs. The SACD standard is referred to as the Scarlet Book standard. Titles in the SACD format can be issued as hybrid discs; these discs contain the SACD audio stream as well as a standard audio CD layer which is playable in standard CD players, thus making them backward compatible. CD-MIDI CD-MIDI is a format used to store music-performance data, which upon playback is performed by electronic instruments that synthesize the audio. Hence, unlike the original Red Book CD-DA, these recordings are not digitally sampled audio recordings. The CD-MIDI format is defined as an extension of the original Red Book. CD-ROM Main article: CD-ROM For the first few years of its existence, the CD was a medium used purely for audio. However, in 1988, the Yellow Book CD-ROM standard was established by Sony and Philips, which defined a non-volatile optical data computer data storage medium using the same physical format as audio compact discs, readable by a computer with a CD-ROM drive. Video CD Main article: Video CD Video CD (VCD, View CD, and Compact Disc digital video) is a standard digital format for storing video media on a CD. VCDs are playable in dedicated VCD players, most modern DVD-Video players, personal computers, and some video game consoles. The VCD standard was created in 1993 by Sony, Philips, Matsushita, and JVC and is referred to as the White Book standard. Overall picture quality is intended to be comparable to VHS video. Poorly compressed VCD video can sometimes be of lower quality than VHS video, but VCD exhibits block artifacts rather than analog noise and does not deteriorate further with each use. 352×240 (or SIF) resolution was chosen because it is half the vertical and half the horizontal resolution of the NTSC video. 352×288 is a similarly one-quarter PAL/SECAM resolution. This approximates the (overall) resolution of an analog VHS tape, which, although it has double the number of (vertical) scan lines, has a much lower horizontal resolution. Super Video CD Main article: Super Video CD Super Video CD (Super Video Compact Disc or SVCD) is a format used for storing video media on standard compact discs. SVCD was intended as a successor to VCD and an alternative to DVD-Video and falls somewhere between both in terms of technical capability and picture quality. SVCD has two-thirds the resolution of DVD, and over 2.7 times the resolution of VCD. One CD-R disc can hold up to 60 minutes of standard-quality SVCD-format video. While no specific limit on SVCD video length is mandated by the specification, one must lower the video bit rate, and therefore quality, to accommodate very long videos. It is usually difficult to fit much more than 100 minutes of video onto one SVCD without incurring a significant quality loss, and many hardware players are unable to play a video with an instantaneous bit rate lower than 300 to 600 kilobits per second. Photo CD Main article: Photo CD Photo CD is a system designed by Kodak for digitizing and storing photos on a CD. Launched in 1992, the discs were designed to hold nearly 100 high-quality images, scanned prints, and slides using special proprietary encoding. Photo CDs are defined in the Beige Book and conform to the CD-ROM XA and CD-i Bridge specifications as well. They are intended to play on CD-i players, Photo CD players, and any computer with suitable software (irrespective of operating system). The images can also be printed out on photographic paper with a special Kodak machine. This format is not to be confused with Kodak Picture CD, which is a consumer product in CD-ROM format. CD-i Main article: Philips CD-i The Philips Green Book specifies a standard for interactive multimedia compact discs designed for CD-i players (1993). CD-i discs can contain audio tracks that can be played on regular CD players, but CD-i discs are not compatible with most CD-ROM drives and software. The CD-i Ready specification was later created to improve compatibility with audio CD players, and the CD-i Bridge specification was added to create CD-i-compatible discs that can be accessed by regular CD-ROM drives. CD-i Ready Main article: CD-i Ready Philips defined a format similar to CD-i called CD-i Ready, which puts CD-i software and data into the pregap of track 1. This format was supposed to be more compatible with older audio CD players. Enhanced Music CD (CD+) Main article: Blue Book (CD standard) Enhanced Music CD, also known as CD Extra or CD Plus, is a format that combines audio tracks and data tracks on the same disc by putting audio tracks in a first session and data in a second session. It was developed by Philips and Sony, and it is defined in the Blue Book. VinylDisc Main article: VinylDisc VinylDisc is the hybrid of a standard audio CD and the vinyl record. The vinyl layer on the disc's label side can hold approximately three minutes of music....Manufacture Main article: Compact Disc manufacturing Individual pits are visible on the micrometer scale. In 1995, material costs were 30 cents for the jewel case and 10 to 15 cents for the CD. The wholesale cost of CDs was $0.75 to $1.15, while the typical retail price of a prerecorded music CD was $16.98.[22] On average, the store received 35 percent of the retail price, the record company 27 percent, the artist 16 percent, the manufacturer 13 percent, and the distributor 9 percent.[22] When 8-track cartridges, compact cassettes, and CDs were introduced, each was marketed at a higher price than the format they succeeded, even though the cost to produce the media was reduced. This was done because the perceived value increased. This continued from phonograph records to CDs, but was broken when Apple marketed MP3s for $0.99, and albums for $9.99. The incremental cost, though, to produce an MP3 is negligible.[23] Writable compact discs Recordable CD 700 MiB CD-R next to a mechanical pencil for scale Main article: CD-R Recordable Compact Discs, CD-Rs, are injection-molded with a "blank" data spiral. A photosensitive dye is then applied, after which the discs are metalized and lacquer-coated. The write laser of the CD recorder changes the color of the dye to allow the read laser of a standard CD player to see the data, just as it would with a standard stamped disc. The resulting discs can be read by most CD-ROM drives and played in most audio CD players. CD-Rs follow the Orange Book standard. CD-R recordings are designed to be permanent. Over time, the dye's physical characteristics may change causing read errors and data loss until the reading device cannot recover with error correction methods. Errors can be predicted using surface error scanning. The design life is from 20 to 100 years, depending on the quality of the discs, the quality of the writing drive, and storage conditions.[24] However, testing has demonstrated such degradation of some discs in as little as 18 months under normal storage conditions.[25][26] This failure is known as disc rot, for which there are several, mostly environmental, reasons.[27] The recordable audio CD is designed to be used in a consumer audio CD recorder. These consumer audio CD recorders use SCMS (Serial Copy Management System), an early form of digital rights management (DRM), to conform to the AHRA (Audio Home Recording Act). The Recordable Audio CD is typically somewhat more expensive than CD-R due to lower production volume and a 3 percent AHRA royalty used to compensate the music industry for the making of a copy.[28] High-capacity recordable CD is a higher-density recording format that can hold 20% more data than conventional discs.[29] The higher capacity is incompatible with some recorders and recording software.[30] ReWritable CD Main article: CD-RW CD-RW is a re-recordable medium that uses a metallic alloy instead of a dye. The write laser, in this case, is used to heat and alter the properties (amorphous vs. crystalline) of the alloy, and hence change its reflectivity. A CD-RW does not have as great a difference in reflectivity as a pressed CD or a CD-R, and so many earlier CD audio players cannot read CD-RW discs, although most later CD audio players and stand-alone DVD players can. CD-RWs follow the Orange Book standard. The ReWritable Audio CD is designed to be used in a consumer audio CD recorder, which will not (without modification) accept standard CD-RW discs. These consumer audio CD recorders use the Serial Copy Management System (SCMS), an early form of digital rights management (DRM), to conform to the United States' Audio Home Recording Act (AHRA). The ReWritable Audio CD is typically somewhat more expensive than CD-R due to (a) lower volume and (b) a 3 percent AHRA royalty used to compensate the music industry for the making of a copy." (wikipedia.org) "A CD-ROM (/ˌsiːdiːˈrɒm/, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both computer data and audio with the latter capable of being played on a CD player, while data (such as software or digital video) is only usable on a computer (such as ISO 9660[2] format PC CD-ROMs). During the 1990s and early 2000s, CD-ROMs were popularly used to distribute software and data for computers and fifth generation video game consoles. DVD started to replace it in these roles starting in the early 2000s. History The earliest theoretical work on optical disc storage was done by independent researchers in the United States including David Paul Gregg (1958) and James Russel (1965–1975). In particular, Gregg's patents were used as the basis of the LaserDisc specification that was co-developed between MCA and Philips after MCA purchased Gregg's patents, as well as the company he founded, Gauss Electrophysics.[3] The LaserDisc was the immediate precursor to the CD, with the primary difference being that the LaserDisc encoded information through an analog process whereas the CD used digital encoding. The physical dimensions are based as follows: Outer diametre: same as a Heineken beer mat. Inner hole: same as the outer diametre of a Dutch dime (ten cents of a Guilder). And that all because Philips is a world famous Dutch company, which had a leading role in the invention. Key work to digitize the optical disc was performed by Toshi Doi and Kees Schouhamer Immink during 1979–1980, who worked on a taskforce for Sony and Phillips.[4] The result was the Compact Disc Digital Audio (CD-DA), defined on 1980. The CD-ROM was later designed as an extension of the CD-DA, and adapted this format to hold any form of digital data, with an initial storage capacity of 553 MB.[5] Sony and Philips created the technical standard that defines the format of a CD-ROM in 1983,[6] in what came to be called the Yellow Book. The CD-ROM was announced in 1984[7] and introduced by Denon and Sony at the first Japanese COMDEX computer show in 1985.[8] In November, 1985, several computer industry participants including Microsoft, Philips, Sony, Apple and Digital Equipment Corporation met to create a specification to define a file system format for CD-ROMs.[9] The resulting specification, called the High Sierra format, was published in May 1986.[9] It was eventually standardized, with a few changes, as the ISO 9660 standard in 1988. One of the first products to be made available to the public on CD-ROM was the Grolier Academic Encyclopedia, presented at the Microsoft CD-ROM Conference in March 1986.[9] CD-ROMs began being used in home video game consoles starting with the PC Engine CD-ROM² (TurboGrafx-CD) in 1988, while CD-ROM drives had also become available for home computers by the end of the 1980s. In 1990, Data East demonstrated an arcade system board that supported CD-ROMs, similar to 1980s laserdisc video games but with digital data, allowing more flexibility than older laserdisc games.[10] By early 1990, about 300,000 CD-ROM drives were sold in Japan, while 125,000 CD-ROM discs were being produced monthly in the United States.[11] Some computers which were marketed in the 1990s were called "multimedia" computers because they incorporated a CD-ROM drive, which allowed for the delivery of several hundred megabytes of video, picture, and audio data. CD-ROM discs Media A CD-ROM in the tray of a partially open CD-ROM drive. CD-ROMs are identical in appearance to audio CDs, and data are stored and retrieved in a very similar manner (only differing from audio CDs in the standards used to store the data). Discs are made from a 1.2 mm thick disc of polycarbonate plastic, with a thin layer of aluminium to make a reflective surface. The most common size of CD-ROM is 120 mm in diameter, though the smaller Mini CD standard with an 80 mm diameter, as well as shaped compact discs in numerous non-standard sizes and molds (e.g., business card-sized media), also exist. Data is stored on the disc as a series of microscopic indentations called "pits", with the non-indented spaces between them called "lands". A laser is shone onto the reflective surface of the disc to read the pattern of pits and lands. Because the depth of the pits is approximately one-quarter to one-sixth of the wavelength of the laser light used to read the disc, the reflected beam's phase is shifted in relation to the incoming beam, causing destructive interference and reducing the reflected beam's intensity. This is converted into binary data. Standard Several formats are used for data stored on compact discs, known as the Rainbow Books. The Yellow Book, created in 1983,[6][12] defines the specifications for CD-ROMs, standardized in 1988 as the ISO/IEC 10149[1] standard and in 1989 as the ECMA-130[13] standard. The CD-ROM standard builds on top of the original Red Book CD-DA standard for CD audio. Other standards, such as the White Book for Video CDs, further define formats based on the CD-ROM specifications. The Yellow Book itself is not freely available, but the standards with the corresponding content can be downloaded for free from ISO or ECMA. There are several standards that define how to structure data files on a CD-ROM. ISO 9660 defines the standard file system for a CD-ROM. ISO 13490 is an improvement on this standard which adds support for non-sequential write-once and re-writeable discs such as CD-R and CD-RW, as well as multiple sessions. The ISO 13346 standard was designed to address most of the shortcomings of ISO 9660,[14] and a subset of it evolved into the UDF format, which was adopted for DVDs. A bootable CD specification, called El Torito, was issued in January 1995, to make a CD emulate a hard disk or floppy disk. Manufacture Main article: Compact Disc manufacturing Pre-pressed CD-ROMs are mass-produced by a process of stamping where a glass master disc is created and used to make "stampers", which are in turn used to manufacture multiple copies of the final disc with the pits already present. Recordable (CD-R) and rewritable (CD-RW) discs are manufactured by a different method, whereby the data are recorded on them by a laser changing the properties of a dye or phase transition material in a process that is often referred to as "burning". CD-ROM format Data stored on CD-ROMs follows the standard CD data encoding techniques described in the Red Book specification (originally defined for audio CD only). This includes cross-interleaved Reed–Solomon coding (CIRC), eight-to-fourteen modulation (EFM), and the use of pits and lands for coding the bits into the physical surface of the CD. The structures used to group data on a CD-ROM are also derived from the Red Book. Like audio CDs (CD-DA), a CD-ROM sector contains 2,352 bytes of user data, composed of 98 frames, each consisting of 33 bytes (24 bytes for the user data, 8 bytes for error correction, and 1 byte for the subcode). Unlike audio CDs, the data stored in these sectors corresponds to any type of digital data, not audio samples encoded according to the audio CD specification. To structure, address and protect this data, the CD-ROM standard further defines two sector modes, Mode 1 and Mode 2, which describe two different layouts for the data inside a sector.[2] A track (a group of sectors) inside a CD-ROM only contains sectors in the same mode, but if multiple tracks are present in a CD-ROM, each track can have its sectors in a different mode from the rest of the tracks. They can also coexist with audio CD tracks, which is the case of mixed mode CDs." (wikipedia.org) "The Dreamcast[a] is a home video game console released by Sega on November 27, 1998, in Japan; September 9, 1999, in North America; and October 14, 1999, in Europe. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, preceding Sony's PlayStation 2, Nintendo's GameCube, and Microsoft's Xbox. The Dreamcast was Sega's final console; its 2001 discontinuation ended the company's eighteen years in the console market. The Dreamcast was developed by an internal Sega team led by Hideki Sato. In contrast to the expensive hardware of the unsuccessful Saturn, the Dreamcast was designed to reduce costs with off-the-shelf components, including a Hitachi SH-4 CPU and an NEC PowerVR2 GPU. Sega used the GD-ROM media format to avoid the expenses of DVD-ROM technology and an optional, custom version of the Windows CE operating system to make porting PC games easy. The Dreamcast was the first console to include a built-in modular modem for internet access and online play. The Dreamcast was released to a subdued reception in Japan, but had a successful US launch backed by a large marketing campaign. However, interest steadily declined as Sony built anticipation for the PlayStation 2. Dreamcast sales did not meet Sega's expectations after several price cuts, and the company suffered significant financial losses. After a change in leadership, Sega discontinued the Dreamcast on March 31, 2001, withdrew from the console business, and restructured itself as a third-party developer. 9.13 million Dreamcast units were sold worldwide. Its bestselling game, Sonic Adventure (1998)—the first 3D game in Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog franchise—sold 2.5 million copies. Despite its short lifespan and limited third-party support, reviewers have celebrated the Dreamcast as one of the greatest consoles. It is considered ahead of its time for pioneering concepts such as online play and downloadable content. Many Dreamcast games are regarded as innovative, including Sonic Adventure, Crazy Taxi (1999), Shenmue (1999), Jet Set Radio (2000), Phantasy Star Online (2000), and high-quality ports from Sega's NAOMI arcade system board. History Background In 1988, Sega released the Genesis (known as the Mega Drive in most countries outside North America), in the fourth generation of video game consoles.[1] It became the most successful Sega console ever, at 30.75 million units sold.[2] Its successor, the Saturn, was released in Japan in 1994.[3] The Saturn is CD-ROM-based and has 2D and 3D graphics, but its complex dual-CPU architecture was more difficult to program than its chief competitor, the Sony PlayStation.[4] Although the Saturn debuted before the PlayStation in Japan and the United States,[5][6] its surprise US launch, four months earlier than scheduled,[7][8][9] was marred by a lack of distribution, which remained a problem.[10] Losses on the Saturn[11] contributed to financial problems for Sega, whose revenue had declined between 1992 and 1995 as part of an industry-wide slowdown.[5][12][13] Sega announced that Shoichiro Irimajiri would replace Tom Kalinske as chairman and CEO of Sega of America,[14][15][16] while Bernie Stolar, a former executive at Sony Computer Entertainment of America,[17][18] became Sega of America's executive vice president in charge of product development and third-party relations.[15][16] After the 1996 launch of the Nintendo 64, sales of the Saturn and its software fell sharply. As of August 1997, Sony controlled 47 percent of the console market, Nintendo controlled 40 percent, and Sega controlled only 12 percent; neither price cuts nor high-profile games helped the Saturn.[18]     I thought the Saturn was a mistake as far as hardware was concerned. The games were obviously terrific, but the hardware just wasn't there. —Bernie Stolar, former president of Sega of America, in 2009[19] As a result of Sega's deteriorating financial situation, Hayao Nakayama resigned as president of Sega in January 1998 in favor of Irimajiri,[20] and Stolar acceded to become CEO and president of Sega of America.[18][21] Following five years of generally declining profits,[22] in the fiscal year ending March 31, 1998, Sega suffered its first parent and consolidated financial losses since its 1988 listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange,[23] reporting a consolidated net loss of ¥35.6 billion (US$269.8 million).[22] Shortly before announcing its financial losses, Sega announced the discontinuation of the Saturn in North America to prepare for the launch of its successor.[18][20] This effectively left the Western market without Sega games for more than a year.[4] Rumors about the upcoming Dreamcast—spread mainly by Sega—leaked to the public before the last Saturn games were released.[24] Development As early as 1995, reports surfaced that Sega would collaborate with Lockheed Martin, The 3DO Company, Matsushita, or Alliance Semiconductor to create a new graphics processing unit, which conflicting accounts said would be used for a 64-bit "Saturn 2" or an add-on peripheral.[25][26][27] Dreamcast development was unrelated.[26][28] Considering the Saturn's poor performance, Irimajiri looked beyond Sega's internal hardware development division to create a new console.[28] In 1997, he enlisted IBM's Tatsuo Yamamoto to lead an 11-person team to work on a secret project in the United States with the codename Blackbelt. Accounts vary on how an internal team led by Hideki Sato also began development on Dreamcast hardware; one account specifies that Sega tasked both teams,[29] and another suggests that Sato was bothered by Irimajiri's choice to begin development externally and had his team start work.[28][30] Sato and his group chose the Hitachi SH-4 processor architecture and the VideoLogic PowerVR2 graphics processor, manufactured by NEC, in the production of the mainboard. Initially known as Whitebelt,[28] the project was later codenamed Dural, after the metallic female fighter from Sega's Virtua Fighter series.[24][29] Yamamoto's group opted to use 3dfx Voodoo 2 and Voodoo Banshee graphics processors alongside a Motorola PowerPC 603e central processing unit (CPU),[28] but Sega management later asked them to also use the SH-4 chip.[29] Both processors have been described as "off-the-shelf" components.[28] According to Charles Bellfield, the former Sega of America vice president of communications and former NEC brand manager, presentations of games using the NEC solution showcased the performance and low cost delivered by the SH-4 and PowerVR architecture. He said that Sega's relationship with NEC, a Japanese company, likely also influenced the decision to use its hardware rather than the architecture developed in America.[29] Stolar felt the US 3dfx version should have been used, but that "Japan wanted the Japanese version, and Japan won".[29] As a result, 3dfx filed a lawsuit against Sega and NEC claiming breach of contract, which was settled out of court.[28] The choice to use the PowerVR architecture concerned Electronic Arts (EA), a longtime developer for Sega consoles. EA had invested in 3dfx but was unfamiliar with the selected architecture, which was reportedly less powerful.[29] According to Shiro Hagiwara (a general manager at Sega's hardware division) and Ian Oliver (the managing director of the Sega subsidiary Cross Products), the SH-4 was chosen while still in development, following lengthy deliberation, as the only processor that "could adapt to deliver the 3D geometry calculation performance necessary".[31] By February 1998, Sega had renamed the project Katana, after the Japanese sword,[24] although certain hardware specifications such as random access memory (RAM) were not finalized.[32] Knowing the Saturn had been set back by its high production costs and complex hardware, Sega took a different approach with the Dreamcast. Like previous Sega consoles, the Dreamcast was designed around intelligent subsystems working in parallel,[31] but the selections of hardware were closer to personal computers than video game consoles, reducing cost.[28] It also enabled software development to begin before any development kits had been completed, as Sega informed developers that any game developed with a Pentium II 200 in mind would run on the console.[33] According to Damien McFerran, "the motherboard was a masterpiece of clean, uncluttered design and compatibility".[28] The Chinese economist and future Sega.com CEO Brad Huang convinced the Sega chairman, Isao Okawa, to include a modem with every Dreamcast under opposition from Okawa's staff over the additional US$15 cost per unit.[34][35][36] To account for rapid changes in home data delivery, Sega designed the modem to be modular.[31] Sega selected the GD-ROM media format.[37] Jointly developed by Sega and Yamaha, the GD-ROM could be mass-produced at a similar price to a normal CD-ROM,[31] avoiding the greater expense of newer DVD-ROM technology.[28][38][39] Microsoft developed a custom Dreamcast version of Windows CE with DirectX API and dynamic-link libraries, making it easy to port PC games to the platform,[31] although programmers would ultimately favor Sega's development tools over those from Microsoft.[28] A member of the Project Katana team speaking anonymously predicted this would be the case, speculating developers would prefer the greater performance possibilities offered by the Sega OS to the more user-friendly interface of the Microsoft OS.[32] In late 1997 there were reports about the rumored system, then codenamed Dural, and that it had been demonstrated to a number of game developers.[40] The Dreamcast was finally revealed on May 21, 1998 in Tokyo.[41] Sega held a public competition to name its new system and considered over 5,000 different entries before choosing "Dreamcast"—a portmanteau of "dream" and "broadcast".[28] According to Katsutoshi Eguchi, the Japanese game developer Kenji Eno submitted the name and created the Dreamcast's spiral logo, but has not been officially credited by Sega.[42] The Dreamcast's startup sound was composed by the Japanese musician Ryuichi Sakamoto.[43] Because the Saturn had tarnished its reputation, Sega planned to remove its name from the console and establish a new gaming brand similar to Sony's PlayStation, but Irimajiri's management team decided to retain it.[28] Sega spent US$50–80 million on hardware development, $150–200 million on software development, and US$300 million on worldwide promotion—a sum which Irimajiri, a former Honda executive, humorously likened to the investments required to design new automobiles.[28][44] Launch Japan Despite a 75 percent drop in half-year profits just before the Japanese launch, Sega was confident about the Dreamcast. It drew significant interest and many pre-orders.[28] However, Sega could not achieve its shipping goals for the Japanese Dreamcast launch due to a shortage of PowerVR chipsets caused by a high failure rate in the manufacturing process.[28][45] As more than half of its limited stock had been pre-ordered, Sega stopped pre-orders in Japan. On November 27, 1998, the Dreamcast launched in Japan at a price of ¥29,000, and the stock sold out by the end of the day. However, of the four games available at launch, only one—a port of Virtua Fighter 3, the most successful arcade game Sega ever released in Japan—sold well.[46] Sega estimated that an additional 200,000–300,000 Dreamcast units could have been sold with sufficient supply.[46] Sega had announced that Sonic Adventure, the next game starring its mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog, would launch with the Dreamcast and promoted it with a large-scale public demonstration at the Tokyo Kokusai Forum Hall,[47][48][49] but it and Sega Rally Championship 2 were delayed.[28] They arrived within the following weeks, but sales continued to be slower than expected.[50] Irimajiri hoped to sell over 1 million Dreamcast units in Japan by February 1999, but sold fewer than 900,000, undermining Sega's attempts to build an installed base sufficient to protect the Dreamcast after the arrival of competition from other manufacturers.[51] There were reports of disappointed Japanese consumers returning their Dreamcasts and using the refund to purchase additional PlayStation software.[52] Seaman, released in July 1999, became the Dreamcast's first major hit in Japan.[4][34][53] Prior to the Western launch, Sega reduced the price of the Dreamcast to ¥19,900, effectively making it unprofitable but increasing sales. The reduction and the release of Namco's Soulcalibur helped Sega gain 17 percent on its shares.[28] North America Before the Dreamcast's release, Sega was dealt a blow when EA, the largest third-party video game publisher, announced it would not develop games for it. EA's chief creative officer Bing Gordon said that Sega had "flip-flopped" on the hardware configuration, that EA developers did not want to work on it, and that Sega "was not acting like a competent hardware company". Gordon also said that Sega could not afford to give them the "kind of license that EA has had over the last five years".[29] According to Stolar, the EA president, Larry Probst, wanted exclusive rights as the only sports brand on Dreamcast, which Stolar could not accept due to Sega's recent US$10 million purchase of the sports game developer Visual Concepts. While EA's Madden NFL series had established brand power, Stolar regarded Visual Concepts' NFL 2K as superior and would provide "a breakthrough experience" to launch the Dreamcast.[19][29] While the Dreamcast would have none of EA's popular sports games, "Sega Sports" games developed mainly by Visual Concepts[54] helped to fill that void.[29]     Let's take the conservative estimate of 250,000 Dreamcast units at presage—that's a quarter of a million units at $200. We'll have a ratio of 1.5 or two games for every Dreamcast unit sold. That's half a million units of software. We think we'll be .5 to one on VMUs and peripheral items such as extra controllers and what have you. This could be a $60 to 80 million 24-hour period. What has ever sold $60 to 80 million in the first 24 hours? —Peter Moore, speaking to Electronic Gaming Monthly about the upcoming launch of the Dreamcast.[55] Working closely with Midway Games (which developed four launch games for the system) and taking advantage of the ten months following the Dreamcast's release in Japan, Sega of America worked to ensure a more successful US launch with a minimum of 15 launch games.[56] With lingering bitterness over the Saturn's early release, Stolar repaired relations with major US retailers, with whom Sega presold 300,000 Dreamcast units.[29] In addition, a pre-launch promotion enabled consumers to rent Dreamcasts from Hollywood Video in the months preceding its September launch.[57] Sega of America's senior vice president of marketing Peter Moore,[58] a fan of the attitude previously associated with Sega's brand, worked with Foote, Cone & Belding and Access Communications to develop the "It's Thinking" campaign of 15-second television commercials, which emphasized the Dreamcast's hardware power.[29][57][59] According to Moore, "We needed to create something that would really intrigue consumers, somewhat apologize for the past, but invoke [sic] all the things we loved about Sega, primarily from the Genesis days."[29] On August 11, Sega of America confirmed that Stolar had been fired, leaving Moore to direct the launch.[56][60] The Dreamcast launched in North America on September 9, 1999, at a price of $199, which Sega's marketing dubbed "9/9/99 for $199".[4][51][57] Eighteen launch games were available in the US[57][61][62] Sega set a new sales record by selling more than 225,132 Dreamcast units in 24 hours, earning $98.4 million in what Moore called "the biggest 24 hours in entertainment retail history".[29] Within two weeks, US Dreamcast sales exceeded 500,000.[29] By Christmas, Sega held 31 percent of the North American video game market share.[63] Significant launch games included Sonic Adventure, the arcade fighting game Soulcalibur, and Visual Concepts' football simulation NFL 2K.[29][58] On November 4, Sega announced it had sold over one million Dreamcast units.[64] The launch was marred by a glitch at one of Sega's manufacturing plants, which produced defective GD-ROMs.[65] Europe Sega released the Dreamcast in Europe on October 14, 1999,[64] at a price of £200.[28] By November 24, 400,000 consoles had been sold in Europe.[64] By Christmas of 1999, Sega of Europe had sold 500,000 units, six months ahead of schedule.[28] The price was dropped to £149.99 from September 8, 2000, with sales at around 800,000 in Europe at this point.[66] Announcing the drop, Jean-François Cecillon, CEO of Sega Europe, commented that "There are 'X' amount of core gamers in Europe; the early adopters. We have reached 80 or 90 per cent of them now and the market is screaming for a price reduction. We have to acknowledge these things and go with the market".[67] Sales did not continue at this pace, and by October 2000, Sega had sold only about 1 million units in Europe.[68] As part of Sega's promotions of the Dreamcast in Europe, it sponsored four European football clubs: Arsenal F.C. (England),[69] AS Saint-Étienne (France),[70] U.C. Sampdoria (Italy),[71] and Deportivo de La Coruña (Spain).[66] Australia and New Zealand Through the regional distributor Ozisoft, the Dreamcast went on sale in Australia and New Zealand on November 30, 1999, at a price of A$499.[72] The launch was planned for September, but was delayed due to problems with Internet compatibility and launch game availability, then delayed again from the revised date of October 25 for various reasons.[73][74][b] There were severe problems at launch; besides a severe shortage of the consoles, only six of the thirty planned launch games were available for purchase on day one with no first-party software included, and additional peripherals were not available in stores.[77] The Ozisoft representative Steve O'Leary, in a statement released the day of launch, explained that the Australian Customs Service had impounded virtually all the supplied launch software, including demo discs, due to insufficient labeling of their country of origin; Ozisoft had received them only two days before launch, resulting in few games that were catalogued and prepared for shipment in time. O'Leary also said that the Dreamcast's high demand in other markets had reduced the number of peripherals allotted to the region.[78] Further complicating matters was the lack of an internet disc due to localization problems, and delays in securing an ISP contract, which was done through Telstra the day before launch. The online component was not ready until March 2000, at which point Ozisoft sent the necessary software to users who had sent in a filled-out reply paid card included with the console.[79][80][81] The poor launch, combined with a lack of advertising and a high price point, produced lackluster sales in Australia; two large retail chains reported a combined total of 13 console sales over the first few days after launch....Software Game library See also: List of Dreamcast games The Dreamcast library consists of over 600 games across all regions,[165] in GD-ROM format.[37] It uses regional lockout, only playing games released within its predetermined region; however, this is circumventable via modchip installation, boot discs, or cheat discs such as Datel's Action Replay.[166][167][168] In Japan, the Dreamcast was launched with Virtua Fighter 3tb, Pen Pen TriIcelon, Godzilla Generations, and July.[169] In North America, it launched with 19 games, including the highly anticipated Sonic Adventure, Soulcalibur, and NFL 2K.[c][170] In Europe, it was planned to launch with 10 games; this increased to 15 after the launch was delayed.[d][173] Licensed Dreamcast games were released until mid-2002 in the US.[19] Some indie developers continued to release games, such as 2007's Last Hope, developed by the German studio NG:Dev.Team.[132] First-party games Sonic Adventure is a significant Dreamcast game, as the first 3D platforming Sonic game. In what has been called "a brief moment of remarkable creativity",[4] in 2000, Sega restructured its arcade and console development teams into nine semi-autonomous studios headed by their top designers.[19][57][174] Studios included United Game Artists (UGA), Hitmaker, Smilebit, Overworks, WOW Entertainment, Amusement Vision, Sega Rosso, Wave Master, and Sonic Team,[175] while Sega AM2 had been taken over earlier in the year by CSK Research Institute[176] and became independent in 2001 as SEGA-AM2 Co., Ltd.[177] Sega's design studios were encouraged to experiment and benefited from a relatively lax approval process.[160] This resulted in games such as UGA's Rez, an attempt to simulate synaesthesia in the form of a rail shooter;[178][179][180] Wow's The Typing of the Dead, a version of The House of the Dead 2 remade into a touch typing trainer;[181][182][183] and Hitmaker's Segagaga, a Japan-exclusive role-playing game in which players are tasked with preventing Sega from going out of business.[184] Sonic Team's Sonic Adventure, the first fully 3D platform game starring Sega's mascot Sonic the Hedgehog, was considered the "centerpiece" of the Dreamcast launch.[4] At 2.5 million copies, it is the best-selling Dreamcast game.[39][185] Sonic Team also developed the Dreamcast's first online game—ChuChu Rocket!—which was praised for its addictive puzzle gameplay and "frantic" multiplayer matches,[186][187][188] and the critically successful music game Samba de Amigo, which was noted for its expensive maracas peripheral and colorful aesthetic.[189][190][191] Sonic Team's Phantasy Star Online, the first online console RPG, is considered a landmark game for refining and simplifing Diablo's style of gameplay to appeal to console audiences.[105][192][193] UGA created the music game Space Channel 5 for a female casual audience;[194] players help a female outer-space news reporter, Ulala, fight aliens with "groove energy" by dancing.[54][195] Hitmaker's arcade ports include Crazy Taxi, an open-world arcade racing game known for its addictive gameplay with more than one million copies sold;[4][182] and Virtua Tennis, which revitalized the tennis game genre.[4][196][197] Smilebit's Jet Set Radio, in which players control a Tokyo gang of rebellious inline skaters, is cited as a major example of Sega's commitment to original concepts during the Dreamcast's lifespan.[198][199] Jet Set Radio also popularized cel shaded graphics,[4][200] though it failed to meet Sega's sales expectations.[199][201][202] The role-playing game Skies of Arcadia, developed by Overworks and produced by Rieko Kodama,[203] was acclaimed for its surreal Jules Verne-inspired fantasy world of floating islands and sky pirates, charming protagonists, exciting airship battles and memorable plot.[4][204][205] AM2 developed what Sega hoped would be the Dreamcast's killer app, Shenmue, a "revenge epic in the tradition of Chinese cinema",[19][206] with a level of detail considered unprecedented for a video game.[207] Incorporating a simulated day-and-night cycle with variable weather, non-player characters with regular schedules, the ability to pick up and examine detailed objects, and introducing the quick-time event in its modern form,[207][208] Shenmue went over budget and was rumored to have cost Sega over $50 million.[209][207][210] According to Moore, Shenmue sold "extremely well", but had no chance of making a profit due to the Dreamcast's limited installed base.[211] Visual Concepts' NFL 2K football series and its NBA 2K basketball series were critically acclaimed.[212] NFL 2K was considered an outstanding launch game for its high-quality visuals[58][213] and "insightful, context-friendly, and, yes, even funny commentary",[164] while NFL 2K1 featured groundbreaking online multiplayer earlier than its chief competitor, EA's Madden NFL series.[29][214][197] Madden and 2K continued to compete on other platforms through 2004, with the 2K series introducing innovations such as a first person perspective new to the genre,[215] and eventually launching ESPN NFL 2K5 at the aggressively low price point of $19.95 until EA signed an exclusive agreement with the National Football League, effectively putting every other pro-football game out of business.[216][217] After Sega sold Visual Concepts for $24 million in 2005, the NBA 2K series continued with publisher Take-Two Interactive.[186][218] During the Dreamcast's lifespan, Visual Concepts also collaborated with the Sonic the Hedgehog level designer Hirokazu Yasuhara on the action-adventure game Floigan Bros.[219] and developed the action game Ooga Booga.[220] Ports and third-party games Before the launch of the Dreamcast in Japan, Sega announced its NAOMI[221] arcade board, a cheaper alternative to the Sega Model 3.[222] NAOMI shares the same technology as the Dreamcast, with twice as much system, video, and audio memory and a 160 MB flash ROM board in place of a GD-ROM drive, allowing nearly identical home conversions of arcade games.[4][31] Games were ported from NAOMI to the Dreamcast by several leading Japanese arcade companies, including Capcom and Namco.[4] The Dreamcast also used parts similar to those found in personal computers with Pentium II and III processors, allowing a handful of ports of PC games.[223][224] To appeal to the European market, Sega formed a French affiliate, No Cliché, which developed games such as Toy Commander.[4][225] Sega Europe also approached Bizarre Creations to develop the racing game Metropolis Street Racer.[226] Although Acclaim, SNK, Ubisoft, Midway, Activision, Infogrames, and Capcom supported the Dreamcast during its first year,[29] third-party support proved difficult to obtain due to the failure of the Sega Saturn and the profitability of publishing for the PlayStation.[28] Namco's Soulcalibur, for example, was released for the Dreamcast because of the relative unpopularity of the Soul series at the time; Namco's more successful Tekken franchise was associated with the PlayStation console and PlayStation-based arcade boards.[4] Capcom produced a number of fighting games for the Dreamcast, including the Power Stone series, and a temporarily exclusive[227] entry in the popular Resident Evil series, Resident Evil – Code: Veronica.[186][228][229] The Dreamcast is known for several shoot 'em ups, most notably Treasure's Bangai-O and Ikaruga.[4][227][230] Sega also revived franchises from the Genesis era, such as Appaloosa Interactive's Ecco the Dolphin....Reception and legacy A Dreamcast European retail demo kiosk is at the Finnish Museum of Games in Tampere, Finland. In December 1999, Next Generation rated the Dreamcast four out of five, writing: "If you want the most powerful system available now, showcasing the best graphics at a reasonable price, this system is for you." However, Next Generation gave its future prognosis three out of five, noting that Sony and Nintendo were both due to release more powerful consoles.[255] At the beginning of 2000, five Electronic Gaming Monthly reviewers scored the Dreamcast 8.5, 8.5, 8.5, 8.0, and 9.0 out of 10.[256] In 2001, the Electronic Gaming Monthly reviewers scored it 9.0, 9.0, 9.0, 9.0, and 9.5 out of 10.[257] BusinessWeek named the Dreamcast one of the best products of 1999.[258] Reasons cited for the failure of the Dreamcast include consumer excitement for the PS2;[57][214][259] a lack of support from EA and Squaresoft, the most popular third parties in the US and Japan respectively;[144] disagreement among executives over Sega's future, and Okawa's lack of commitment to the product;[19] Sega's lack of advertising money, with Bellfield doubting that Sega spent even "half" the $100 million it had pledged to promote the Dreamcast in the US;[29][260] that the market was not ready for online gaming;[124][144] Sega's focus on "hardcore" gamers over mainstream consumers;[57][124] poor timing;[29] and damage to Sega's reputation caused by its several poorly supported previous platforms.[144][261][262] In GamePro, Blake Snow wrote of "the much beloved [Dreamcast] launched years ahead of the competition but ultimately struggled to shed the negative reputation [Sega] had gained during the Saturn, Sega 32X, and Sega CD days. As a result, casual gamers and jaded third-party developers doubted Sega's ability to deliver."[261] Eurogamer's Dan Whitehead noted that consumers' "wait-and-see" approach, and the lack of support from EA, were symptoms rather the cause of Sega's decline. He concluded that "Sega's misadventures during the 1990s had left both gamers and publishers wary of any new platform bearing its name".[214] According to 1Up.com's Jeremy Parish, it would be intellectually dishonest to blame Sony for "killing the Dreamcast by overselling the PS2", as Sega's lack of support for previous consoles had made customers hesitant to purchase Dreamcasts.[57] In 2009, IGN named the Dreamcast the eighth-greatest video game console, praising its software and innovations, including its online play.[39] In 2010, PC Magazine's Jeffrey L. Wilson named the Dreamcast the greatest console and said that it was "gone too soon".[263] In 2013, Edge named the Dreamcast the tenth-best console of the last 20 years, highlighting innovations including in-game voice chat, downloadable content, and second-screen technology through the use of VMUs. Edge wrote that "Sega's console was undoubtedly ahead of its time, and it suffered at retail for that reason... [b]ut its influence can still be felt today."[143] Dan Whitehead of Eurogamer likened the Dreamcast to "a small, square, white plastic JFK. A progressive force in some ways, perhaps misguided in others, but nevertheless a promising life cut tragically short by dark shadowy forces, spawning complex conspiracy theories that endure to this day." He wrote that its short lifespan "may have sealed its reputation as one of the greatest consoles ever", as "nothing builds a cult like a tragic demise".[214] According to IGN's Travis Fahs, "Many hardware manufacturers have come and gone, but it's unlikely any will go out with half as much class as Sega."[4]     If ever a system deserved to succeed, it was Dreamcast. Dreamcast has a hell of a library. It's dying now, 18 months old, with a larger library than the 5-year-old Nintendo 64. It's a better library than the Nintendo 64. Dreamcast was a wonderful system. —Journalist Steven L. Kent, March 2001.[264] The Dreamcast's game library was celebrated.[261] In January 2000, three months after the Dreamcast's North American launch, Electronic Gaming Monthly wrote that "with triple-A stuff like Soul Calibur, NBA 2K, and soon Crazy Taxi to kick around, we figure you're happy you took the 128-bit plunge".[265] In a retrospective, PC Magazine's Jeffrey L. Wilson referred to Dreamcast's "killer library" and said that Sega's creative influence and visual innovation had been at its peak.[263] The staff of Edge agreed with this assessment of Dreamcast games, including Sega's arcade conversions, stating that the system "delivered the first games that could meaningfully be described as arcade perfect".[143] Damien McFerran of Retro Gamer praised Dreamcast's NAOMI arcade ports, and wrote: "The thrill of playing Crazy Taxi in the arcade knowing full well that a pixel-perfect conversion (and not some cut-down port) was set to arrive on the Dreamcast is an experience gamers are unlikely to witness again."[28] Nick Montfort and Mia Consalvo, writing in Loading... The Journal of the Canadian Game Studies Association, argued that "the Dreamcast hosted a remarkable amount of video game development that went beyond the odd and unusual and is interesting when considered as avant-garde ... It is hard to imagine a commercial console game expressing strong resistance to the commodity perspective and to the view that game production is commerce. But even when it comes to resisting commercialization, it is arguable that Dreamcast games came closer to expressing this attitude than any other console games have."[160] 1Up.com's Jeremy Parish favorably compared Sega's Dreamcast output, which included some of "the most varied, creative, and fun [games] the company had ever produced", with its "enervated" status as a third-party.[57] Fahs noted, "The Dreamcast's life was fleeting, but it was saturated with memorable titles, most of which were completely new properties."[19] According to author Steven L. Kent, "From Sonic Adventure and Shenmue to Space Channel 5 and Seaman, Dreamcast delivered and delivered and delivered."[266] Some journalists have compared the demise of the Dreamcast with changing trends in the video game industry. In 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die, Duncan Harris wrote: "One of the reasons that older gamers mourned the loss of the Dreamcast was that it signaled the demise of arcade gaming culture ... Sega's console gave hope that things were not about to change for the worse and that the tenets of fast fun and bright, attractive graphics were not about to sink into a brown and green bog of realistic war games."[267] Jeremy Parish, writing for USgamer, contrasted the Dreamcast's diverse library with the "suffocating sense of conservatism" that pervaded the gaming industry in the following decade.[268] According to Sega's head of product implementation, Tadashi Takezaki, the Dreamcast would have been Sega's last video game console no matter how it sold because of the changes in the market and the rise of PCs. He praised the Dreamcast for its features, saying in 2013, "The seeds we sowed with the Dreamcast are finally bearing fruit at this point in time. In some ways, we were going by the seat of our pants, but it was part of the Sega credo at the time — if it's fun, then go for it."" (wikipedia.org) "Reception and legacy A Dreamcast European retail demo kiosk is at the Finnish Museum of Games in Tampere, Finland. In December 1999, Next Generation rated the Dreamcast four out of five, writing: "If you want the most powerful system available now, showcasing the best graphics at a reasonable price, this system is for you." However, Next Generation gave its future prognosis three out of five, noting that Sony and Nintendo were both due to release more powerful consoles.[255] At the beginning of 2000, five Electronic Gaming Monthly reviewers scored the Dreamcast 8.5, 8.5, 8.5, 8.0, and 9.0 out of 10.[256] In 2001, the Electronic Gaming Monthly reviewers scored it 9.0, 9.0, 9.0, 9.0, and 9.5 out of 10.[257] BusinessWeek named the Dreamcast one of the best products of 1999.[258] Reasons cited for the failure of the Dreamcast include consumer excitement for the PS2;[57][214][259] a lack of support from EA and Squaresoft, the most popular third parties in the US and Japan respectively;[144] disagreement among executives over Sega's future, and Okawa's lack of commitment to the product;[19] Sega's lack of advertising money, with Bellfield doubting that Sega spent even "half" the $100 million it had pledged to promote the Dreamcast in the US;[29][260] that the market was not ready for online gaming;[124][144] Sega's focus on "hardcore" gamers over mainstream consumers;[57][124] poor timing;[29] and damage to Sega's reputation caused by its several poorly supported previous platforms.[144][261][262] In GamePro, Blake Snow wrote of "the much beloved [Dreamcast] launched years ahead of the competition but ultimately struggled to shed the negative reputation [Sega] had gained during the Saturn, Sega 32X, and Sega CD days. As a result, casual gamers and jaded third-party developers doubted Sega's ability to deliver."[261] Eurogamer's Dan Whitehead noted that consumers' "wait-and-see" approach, and the lack of support from EA, were symptoms rather the cause of Sega's decline. He concluded that "Sega's misadventures during the 1990s had left both gamers and publishers wary of any new platform bearing its name".[214] According to 1Up.com's Jeremy Parish, it would be intellectually dishonest to blame Sony for "killing the Dreamcast by overselling the PS2", as Sega's lack of support for previous consoles had made customers hesitant to purchase Dreamcasts.[57] In 2009, IGN named the Dreamcast the eighth-greatest video game console, praising its software and innovations, including its online play.[39] In 2010, PC Magazine's Jeffrey L. Wilson named the Dreamcast the greatest console and said that it was "gone too soon".[263] In 2013, Edge named the Dreamcast the tenth-best console of the last 20 years, highlighting innovations including in-game voice chat, downloadable content, and second-screen technology through the use of VMUs. Edge wrote that "Sega's console was undoubtedly ahead of its time, and it suffered at retail for that reason... [b]ut its influence can still be felt today."[143] Dan Whitehead of Eurogamer likened the Dreamcast to "a small, square, white plastic JFK. A progressive force in some ways, perhaps misguided in others, but nevertheless a promising life cut tragically short by dark shadowy forces, spawning complex conspiracy theories that endure to this day." He wrote that its short lifespan "may have sealed its reputation as one of the greatest consoles ever", as "nothing builds a cult like a tragic demise".[214] According to IGN's Travis Fahs, "Many hardware manufacturers have come and gone, but it's unlikely any will go out with half as much class as Sega."[4]     If ever a system deserved to succeed, it was Dreamcast. Dreamcast has a hell of a library. It's dying now, 18 months old, with a larger library than the 5-year-old Nintendo 64. It's a better library than the Nintendo 64. Dreamcast was a wonderful system. —Journalist Steven L. Kent, March 2001.[264] The Dreamcast's game library was celebrated.[261] In January 2000, three months after the Dreamcast's North American launch, Electronic Gaming Monthly wrote that "with triple-A stuff like Soul Calibur, NBA 2K, and soon Crazy Taxi to kick around, we figure you're happy you took the 128-bit plunge".[265] In a retrospective, PC Magazine's Jeffrey L. Wilson referred to Dreamcast's "killer library" and said that Sega's creative influence and visual innovation had been at its peak.[263] The staff of Edge agreed with this assessment of Dreamcast games, including Sega's arcade conversions, stating that the system "delivered the first games that could meaningfully be described as arcade perfect".[143] Damien McFerran of Retro Gamer praised Dreamcast's NAOMI arcade ports, and wrote: "The thrill of playing Crazy Taxi in the arcade knowing full well that a pixel-perfect conversion (and not some cut-down port) was set to arrive on the Dreamcast is an experience gamers are unlikely to witness again."[28] Nick Montfort and Mia Consalvo, writing in Loading... The Journal of the Canadian Game Studies Association, argued that "the Dreamcast hosted a remarkable amount of video game development that went beyond the odd and unusual and is interesting when considered as avant-garde ... It is hard to imagine a commercial console game expressing strong resistance to the commodity perspective and to the view that game production is commerce. But even when it comes to resisting commercialization, it is arguable that Dreamcast games came closer to expressing this attitude than any other console games have."[160] 1Up.com's Jeremy Parish favorably compared Sega's Dreamcast output, which included some of "the most varied, creative, and fun [games] the company had ever produced", with its "enervated" status as a third-party.[57] Fahs noted, "The Dreamcast's life was fleeting, but it was saturated with memorable titles, most of which were completely new properties."[19] According to author Steven L. Kent, "From Sonic Adventure and Shenmue to Space Channel 5 and Seaman, Dreamcast delivered and delivered and delivered."[266] Some journalists have compared the demise of the Dreamcast with changing trends in the video game industry. In 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die, Duncan Harris wrote: "One of the reasons that older gamers mourned the loss of the Dreamcast was that it signaled the demise of arcade gaming culture ... Sega's console gave hope that things were not about to change for the worse and that the tenets of fast fun and bright, attractive graphics were not about to sink into a brown and green bog of realistic war games."[267] Jeremy Parish, writing for USgamer, contrasted the Dreamcast's diverse library with the "suffocating sense of conservatism" that pervaded the gaming industry in the following decade.[268] According to Sega's head of product implementation, Tadashi Takezaki, the Dreamcast would have been Sega's last video game console no matter how it sold because of the changes in the market and the rise of PCs. He praised the Dreamcast for its features, saying in 2013, "The seeds we sowed with the Dreamcast are finally bearing fruit at this point in time. In some ways, we were going by the seat of our pants, but it was part of the Sega credo at the time — if it's fun, then go for it." (wikipedia.org) "The PlayStation[a] (abbreviated as PS, commonly known as the PS1/PS one or its codename PSX) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was released in Japan on 3 December 1994, in North America on 9 September 1995, in Europe on 29 September 1995, and in Australia on 15 November 1995. As a fifth-generation console, the PlayStation primarily competed with the Nintendo 64 and the Sega Saturn. Sony began developing the PlayStation after a failed venture with Nintendo to create a CD-ROM peripheral for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in the early 1990s. The console was primarily designed by Ken Kutaragi and Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan, while additional development was outsourced in the United Kingdom. An emphasis on 3D polygon graphics was placed at the forefront of the console's design. PlayStation game production was designed to be streamlined and inclusive, enticing the support of many third-party developers. The console proved popular for its extensive game library, popular franchises, low retail price, and aggressive youth marketing which advertised it as the preferable console for adolescents and adults. Premier PlayStation franchises included Gran Turismo, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Tomb Raider, Metal Gear, Tekken, and Final Fantasy, all of which spawned numerous sequels. PlayStation games continued to sell until Sony ceased production of the PlayStation and its games on 23 March 2006—over eleven years after it had been released, and less than a year before the debut of the PlayStation 3.[10] A total of 3,061 PlayStation games were released, with cumulative sales of 967 million units. The PlayStation signalled Sony's rise to power in the video game industry. It received acclaim and sold strongly; in less than a decade, it became the first computer entertainment platform to ship over 100 million units.[13] Its use of compact discs heralded the game industry's transition from cartridges. The PlayStation's success led to a line of successors, beginning with the PlayStation 2 in 2000. In the same year, Sony released a smaller and cheaper model, the PS One. History Background A photo of the only-known SNES-based PlayStation prototype with a controller and disk drive in the foreground. A photo of the only known SNES-based PlayStation prototype[14] The PlayStation was conceived by Ken Kutaragi, a Sony executive who managed a hardware engineering division and was later dubbed "the Father of the PlayStation".[15][16] Kutaragi's interest in working with video games stemmed from seeing his daughter play games on Nintendo's Famicom.[17] Kutaragi convinced Nintendo to use his SPC-700 sound processor in the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) through a demonstration of the processor's capabilities.[18] His willingness to work with Nintendo derived from both his admiration of the Famicom and conviction in video game consoles becoming the main home-use entertainment systems.[19] Although Kutaragi was nearly fired because he worked with Nintendo without Sony's knowledge,[20] president Norio Ohga recognised the potential in Kutaragi's chip and decided to keep him as a protégé.[17] The inception of the PlayStation dates back to a 1988 joint venture between Nintendo and Sony.[8] Nintendo had produced floppy disk technology to complement cartridges in the form of the Family Computer Disk System, and wanted to continue this complementary storage strategy for the SNES.[17][21] Since Sony was already contracted to produce the SPC-700 sound processor for the SNES,[8] Nintendo contracted Sony to develop a CD-ROM add-on, tentatively titled the "Play Station" or "SNES-CD".[22][23] The PlayStation name had already been trademarked by Yamaha, but Nobuyuki Idei liked it so much that he agreed to acquire it for an undisclosed sum rather than search for an alternative.[24] Sony was keen to obtain a foothold in the rapidly expanding video game market. Having been the primary manufacturer of the ill-fated MSX home computer format, Sony had wanted to use their experience in consumer electronics to produce their own video game hardware.[25][26] Although the initial agreement between Nintendo and Sony was about producing a CD-ROM add-on, Sony had also planned to develop a SNES-compatible Sony-branded console. This iteration was intended to be more of a home entertainment system, playing both SNES cartridges and a new CD format named the "Super Disc", which Sony would design.[8][27] Under the agreement, Sony would retain sole international rights to every Super Disc game, giving them a large degree of control despite Nintendo's leading position in the video game market.[8][28][26] Furthermore, Sony would also be the sole benefactor of licensing related to music and film software that it had been aggressively pursuing as a secondary application.[29] The Play Station was to be announced at the 1991 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.[30] However, Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi was wary of Sony's increasing leverage at this point and deemed the original 1988 contract unacceptable upon realising it essentially handed Sony control over all games written on the SNES CD-ROM format. Although Nintendo was dominant in the video game market, Sony possessed a superior research and development department.[31] Wanting to protect Nintendo's existing licensing structure, Yamauchi cancelled all plans for the joint Nintendo–Sony SNES CD attachment without telling Sony.[32][33][30] He sent Nintendo of America president Minoru Arakawa (his son-in-law) and chairman Howard Lincoln to Amsterdam to form a more favourable contract with Dutch conglomerate Philips, Sony's rival. This contract would give Nintendo total control over their licences on all Philips-produced machines.[34][26] Kutaragi and Nobuyuki Idei, Sony's director of public relations at the time, learned of Nintendo's actions two days before the CES was due to begin. Kutaragi telephoned numerous contacts, including Philips, to no avail.[35] On the first day of the CES, Sony announced their partnership with Nintendo and their new console, the Play Station. At 9 am on the next day, in what has been called "the greatest ever betrayal" in the industry,[34] Howard Lincoln stepped onto the stage and revealed that Nintendo was now allied with Philips and would abandon their work with Sony.[17][36][37] Inception Ken Kutaragi pictured in 2014 at the Game Deveolopers Choice Awards ceremony. Kutaragi is standing on stage, holding an award in his right hand. Ken Kutaragi, the "Father of the PlayStation", pictured at the Game Developers Choice Awards in 2014 Incensed by Nintendo's renouncement, Ohga and Kutaragi decided that Sony would develop their own console.[38] Nintendo's contract-breaking was met with consternation in the Japanese business community,[17] as they had broken an "unwritten law" of native companies not turning against each other in favour of foreign ones.[26] Sony's American branch considered allying with Sega to produce a CD-ROM-based machine called the Sega Multimedia Entertainment System, but their board of directors in Tokyo vetoed the idea when American CEO Tom Kalinske presented them the proposal. Kalinske recalled them saying: "That's a stupid idea, Sony doesn't know how to make hardware. They don't know how to make software either. Why would we want to do this?"[39] Sony halted their research, but decided to develop what it had developed with Nintendo and Sega into a console based on the SNES.[39] Despite the tumultuous events at the 1991 CES, negotiations between Nintendo and Sony were still ongoing. A deal was proposed: the Play Station would still have a port for SNES games, on the condition that it would still use Kutaragi's audio chip and that Nintendo would own the rights and receive the bulk of the profits. Roughly two hundred prototype machines were created, and some software entered development.[26][40] Many within Sony were still opposed to their involvement in the video game industry, with some resenting Kutaragi for jeopardising the company.[41] Kutaragi remained adamant that Sony not retreat from the growing industry and that a deal with Nintendo would never work.[17][34] Knowing that it had to take decisive action, Sony severed all ties with Nintendo on 4 May 1992.[42] To determine the fate of the PlayStation project, Ohga chaired a meeting in June 1992, consisting of Kutaragi and several senior Sony board members. Kutaragi unveiled a proprietary CD-ROM-based system he had been secretly working on which played games with immersive 3D graphics. Kutaragi was confident that his LSI chip could accommodate one million logic gates, which exceeded the capabilities of Sony's semiconductor division at the time.[43] Despite gaining Ohga's enthusiasm, there remained opposition from a majority present at the meeting. Older Sony executives also opposed it, who saw Nintendo and Sega as "toy" manufacturers.[44] The opposers felt the game industry was too culturally offbeat and asserted that Sony should remain a central player in the audiovisual industry, where companies were familiar with one another and could conduct "civili[s]ed" business negotiations.[45] After Kutaragi reminded him of the humiliation he suffered from Nintendo, Ohga retained the project and became one of Kutaragi's most staunch supporters.[23][46] Ohga shifted Kutaragi and nine of his team from Sony's main headquarters to Sony Music Entertainment Japan (SMEJ),[47] a subsidiary of the main Sony group, so as to retain the project and maintain relationships with Philips for the MMCD development project.[44] The involvement of SMEJ proved crucial to the PlayStation's early development as the process of manufacturing games on CD-ROM format was similar to that used for audio CDs, with which Sony's music division had considerable experience. While at SMEJ, Kutaragi worked with Epic/Sony Records founder Shigeo Maruyama and Akira Sato; both later became vice presidents of the division that ran the PlayStation business.[28] Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) was jointly established by Sony and SMEJ to handle the company's ventures into the video game industry.[48][49] On 27 October 1993, Sony publicly announced that it was entering the game console market with the PlayStation.[34][50] According to Maruyama, there was uncertainty over whether the console should primarily focus on 2D, sprite-based graphics or 3D polygon graphics. After Sony witnessed the success of Sega's Virtua Fighter (1993) in Japanese arcades, the direction of the PlayStation became "instantly clear" and 3D polygon graphics became the console's primary focus.[51] SCE president Teruhisa Tokunaka expressed gratitude for Sega's timely release of Virtua Fighter as it proved "just at the right time" that making games with 3D imagery was possible.[52] Maruyama claimed that Sony further wanted to emphasize the new console's ability to utilize redbook audio from the CD-ROM format in its games alongside high quality visuals and gameplay.[53] Wishing to distance the project from the failed enterprise with Nintendo, Sony initially branded the PlayStation the "PlayStation X" (PSX).[34] Sony formed their European division and North American division, known as Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) and Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA), in January and May 1995.[54][55] The divisions planned to market the new console under the alternative branding "PSX" following the negative feedback regarding "PlayStation" in focus group studies. Early advertising prior to the console's launch in North America referenced PSX, but the term was scrapped before launch.[56] The console was not marketed with Sony's name in contrast to Nintendo's consoles. According to Phil Harrison, much of Sony's upper management feared that the Sony brand would be tarnished if associated with the console, which they considered a "toy".[28][29] Development Since Sony had no experience in game development, it had to rely on the support of third-party game developers. This was in contrast to Sega and Nintendo, which had versatile and well-equipped in-house software divisions for their arcade games and could easily port successful games to their home consoles.[57] Recent consoles like the Atari Jaguar and 3DO suffered low sales due to a lack of developer support, prompting Sony to redouble their efforts in gaining the endorsement of arcade-savvy developers.[26] A team from Epic Sony visited more than a hundred companies throughout Japan in May 1993 in hopes of attracting game creators with the PlayStation's technological appeal.[58] Through a series of negotiations, Sony acquired initial support from Namco, Konami, and Williams Entertainment, as well as 250 other development teams in Japan alone. Namco in particular was keen to participate in the PlayStation project as a third-party developer since Namco rivalled Sega in the arcade market.[59] Attaining these companies secured influential games such as Ridge Racer (1993) and Mortal Kombat 3 (1995),[26][7] Ridge Racer being one of the most popular arcade games at the time,[60] and it was already confirmed behind closed doors that it would be the PlayStation's first game by December 1993.[61] Namco's research managing director Shegeichi Nakamura met with Kutaragi in 1993 to discuss the preliminary PlayStation specifications, with Namco subsequently basing the Namco System 11 arcade board on PlayStation hardware and developing Tekken to compete with Virtua Fighter.[62] The System 11 launched in arcades several months before the PlayStation's release, with the arcade release of Tekken in September 1994.[63] A photo of Ian Hetherington, founder of game developer Psygnosis, seated at a desk. Ian Hetherington pictured in 1990. Hetherington and Psygnosis played important roles in the PlayStation project. Despite securing the support of various Japanese studios, Sony had no developers of their own by the time the PlayStation was in development. This changed in 1993 when Sony acquired the Liverpudlian company Psygnosis (later renamed SCE Liverpool) for US$48 million, securing their first in-house development team. The acquisition meant that Sony could have more launch games ready for the PlayStation's release in Europe and North America.[26][7] Ian Hetherington, Psygnosis' co-founder, was disappointed after receiving early builds of the PlayStation and recalled that the console "was not fit for purpose" until his team got involved with it.[64] Hetherington frequently clashed with Sony executives over broader ideas; at one point it was suggested that a television with a built-in PlayStation be produced.[65] In the months leading up to the PlayStation's launch, Psygnosis had around 500 full-time staff working on games and assisting with software development.[64][66] The purchase of Psygnosis marked another turning point for the PlayStation as it played a vital role in creating the console's development kits. While Sony had provided MIPS R4000-based Sony NEWS workstations for PlayStation development, Psygnosis employees disliked the thought of developing on these expensive workstations and asked Bristol-based SN Systems to create an alternative PC-based development system.[28] Andy Beveridge and Martin Day, owners of SN Systems, had previously supplied development hardware for other consoles such as the Mega Drive, Atari ST, and the SNES.[67] When Psygnosis arranged an audience for SN Systems with Sony's Japanese executives at the January 1994 CES in Las Vegas, Beveridge and Day presented their prototype of the condensed development kit, which could run on an ordinary personal computer with two extension boards. Impressed, Sony decided to abandon their plans for a workstation-based development system in favour of SN Systems', thus securing a cheaper and more efficient method for designing software.[26] An order of over 600 systems followed, and SN Systems supplied Sony with additional software such as an assembler, linker, and a debugger.[68] SN Systems produced development kits for future PlayStation systems, including the PlayStation 2 and was bought out by Sony in 2005.[69] Sony strived to make game production as streamlined and inclusive as possible, in contrast to the relatively isolated approach of Sega and Nintendo. Phil Harrison, the then-representative director of SCEE, believed that Sony's emphasis on developer assistance reduced most time-consuming aspects of development. As well as providing programming libraries, SCE headquarters in London, California and Tokyo housed technical support teams that could work closely with third-party developers if needed.[49][70] Peter Molyneux, who owned Bullfrog Productions at the time, admired Sony's open-handed approach to software developers and lauded their decision to use PCs as a development platform, remarking that "[it was] like being released from jail in terms of the freedom you have".[71] Another strategy that helped attract software developers was the PlayStation's use of the CD-ROM format instead of traditional cartridges. In contrast to other disc-reading consoles such as the 3DO, the PlayStation could quickly generate and synthesise data from the CD since it was an image-generation system, rather than a data-replay system.[72] The PlayStation's architecture and interconnectability with PCs was beneficial to many software developers. The use of the programming language C proved useful during the early stages of development as it safeguarded future compatibility of the machine should developers decide to make further hardware revisions. Sony used the free software GNU C compiler, also known as GCC, to guarantee short debugging times as it was already familiar to many programmers.[66] Despite the inherent flexibility, some developers found themselves restricted due to the console's lack of RAM. While working on beta builds of the PlayStation, Molyneux observed that its MIPS processor was not "quite as bullish" compared to that of a fast PC and said that it took his team two weeks to port their PC code to the PlayStation development kits and another fortnight to achieve a four-fold speed increase.[73] An engineer from Ocean Software, one of Europe's largest game developers at the time, thought that allocating RAM was a challenging aspect given the 3.5 megabyte restriction.[74] Kutaragi said that while it would have been easy to double the amount of RAM for the PlayStation, the development team refrained from doing so to keep the retail cost down.[75] Kutaragi saw the biggest challenge in developing the system to be balancing the conflicting goals of high performance, low cost, and being easy to program for, and felt he and his team were successful in this regard.[75] Its technical specifications were finalised in 1993 and its design during 1994.[76] The PlayStation name and its final design were confirmed during a press conference on May 10, 1994, although the price and release dates had not been disclosed yet.[77] Launch Sony released the PlayStation in Japan on 3 December 1994, a week after the release of the Sega Saturn, at a price of ¥39,800.[7][78] Sales in Japan began with a "stunning"[17] success with long queues in shops.[26] It sold 100,000 units on the first day[79] and two million units within six months,[80] although the Saturn outsold the PlayStation in the first few weeks due to the success of Virtua Fighter.[7][81] By the end of 1994, 300,000 PlayStation units were sold in Japan compared to 500,000 Saturn units.[82] After a while, a grey market emerged for PlayStations, which were shipped from Japan to North America and Europe, with some buyers of such consoles paying large amounts of money in the range of £700.[79]     "When September 1995 arrived and Sony's Playstation roared out of the gate, things immediately felt different than they did with the Saturn launch earlier that year. Sega dropped the Saturn $100 to match the Playstation's $299 debut price, but sales weren't even close—Playstations flew out the door as fast as we could get them in stock. —Lee Hutchinson of Ars Technica, a Babbage's employee in 1995, recalling how PlayStation preorders greatly outnumbered Saturn sales at his shop.[83] Before the release in North America, Sega and Sony presented their consoles at the first Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles on 11 May 1995. At their keynote presentation, Sega of America CEO Tom Kalinske revealed that its Saturn console would be released immediately to select retailers at a price of $399. Next came Sony's turn: Olaf Olafsson, the head of SCEA, summoned Steve Race, the head of development, to the conference stage, who said "$299" and left the audience with a round of applause.[84][85][86][87] The attention to the Sony conference was further bolstered by the surprise appearance of Michael Jackson and the showcase of highly anticipated games, including Wipeout (1995), Ridge Racer and Tekken (1994).[88][89][90] In addition, Sony announced that no games would be bundled with the console.[26][91] Although the Saturn had released early in the United States to gain an advantage over the PlayStation,[92] the surprise launch upset many retailers who were not informed in time, harming sales.[93] Some retailers such as KB Toys responded by dropping the Saturn entirely.[94] The PlayStation went on sale in North America on 9 September 1995. It sold more units within two days than the Saturn had in five months, with almost all of the initial shipment of 100,000 units sold in advance and shops across the country running out of consoles and accessories.[26] The well-received Ridge Racer contributed to the PlayStation's early success,[81][95][96] with some critics considering it superior to Sega's arcade counterpart Daytona USA (1994).[97][98] There were over 100,000 pre-orders placed and 17 games available on the market by the time of the PlayStation's American launch,[26] in comparison to the Saturn's six launch games.[99] The PlayStation released in Europe on 29 September 1995[3] and in Australia on 15 November 1995.[4] By November it had already outsold the Saturn by three to one in the United Kingdom, where Sony had allocated a £20 million marketing budget during the Christmas season compared to Sega's £4 million.[100][101] Sony found early success in the United Kingdom by securing listings with independent shop owners as well as prominent High Street chains such as Comet and Argos.[64] Within its first year, the PlayStation secured over 20% of the entire American video game market.[102] From September to the end of 1995, sales in the United States amounted to 800,000 units, giving the PlayStation a commanding lead over the other fifth-generation consoles,[b][104] though the SNES and Mega Drive from the fourth generation still outsold it.[105] Sony reported that the attach rate of sold games and consoles was four to one.[106] To meet increasing demand, Sony chartered jumbo jets and ramped up production in Europe and North America.[107] By early 1996, the PlayStation had grossed $2 billion (equivalent to $3.732 billion 2022) from worldwide hardware and software sales.[108] By late 1996, sales in Europe totalled 2.2 million units, including 700,000 in the UK.[109] Approximately 400 PlayStation games were in development, compared to around 200 games being developed for the Saturn and 60 for the Nintendo 64.[110] Marketing success and later years The PlayStation was backed by a successful marketing campaign, allowing Sony to gain an early foothold in Europe and North America.[111] Initially, PlayStation demographics were skewed towards adults, but the audience broadened after the first price drop.[112] While the Saturn was positioned towards 18- to 34-year-olds,[113] the PlayStation was initially marketed exclusively towards teenagers. Executives from both Sony and Sega reasoned that because younger players typically looked up to older, more experienced players, advertising targeted at teens and adults would draw them in too. Additionally, Sony found that adults reacted best to advertising aimed at teenagers; Lee Clow surmised that people who started to grow into adulthood regressed and became "17 again" when they played video games.[114] The console was marketed with advertising slogans stylised as "LIVE IN YOUR WORLD. PLAY IN OURS" and "U R NOT E" (red E).[115][26] Clow thought that by invoking such provocative statements, gamers would respond to the contrary and say "'Bullshit. Let me show you how ready I am.'"[116] As the console's appeal enlarged, Sony's marketing efforts broadened from their earlier focus on mature players to specifically target younger children as well.[117] Shortly after the PlayStation's release in Europe, Sony tasked marketing manager Geoff Glendenning with assessing the desires of a new target audience. Sceptical over Nintendo and Sega's reliance on television campaigns, Glendenning theorised that young adults transitioning from fourth-generation consoles would feel neglected by marketing directed at children and teenagers.[118] Recognising the influence early 1990s underground clubbing and rave culture had on young people, especially in the United Kingdom, Glendenning felt that the culture had become mainstream enough to help cultivate PlayStation's emerging identity. Sony partnered with prominent nightclub owners such as Ministry of Sound and festival promoters to organise dedicated PlayStation areas where demonstrations of select games could be tested.[119] Sheffield-based graphic design studio The Designers Republic was contracted by Sony to produce promotional materials aimed at a fashionable, club-going audience.[120] Psygnosis' Wipeout in particular became associated with nightclub culture as it was widely featured in venues.[119][121] By 1997, there were 52 nightclubs in the United Kingdom with dedicated PlayStation rooms. Glendenning recalled that he had discreetly used at least £100,000 a year in slush fund money to invest in impromptu marketing.[118] In 1996, Sony expanded their CD production facilities in the United States due to the high demand for PlayStation games, increasing their monthly output from 4 million discs to 6.5 million discs.[122] This was necessary because PlayStation sales were running at twice the rate of Saturn sales, and its lead dramatically increased when both consoles dropped in price to $199 that year.[123] The PlayStation also outsold the Saturn at a similar ratio in Europe during 1996,[124] with 2.2 million consoles sold in the region by the end of the year.[125] Sales figures for PlayStation hardware and software only increased following the launch of the Nintendo 64.[126][127] Tokunaka speculated that the Nintendo 64 launch had actually helped PlayStation sales by raising public awareness of the gaming market through Nintendo's added marketing efforts.[128] Despite this, the PlayStation took longer to achieve dominance in Japan. Tokunaka said that, even after the PlayStation and Saturn had been on the market for nearly two years, the competition between them was still "very close", and neither console had led in sales for any meaningful length of time.[112] By 1998, Sega, encouraged by their declining market share and significant financial losses,[129] launched the Dreamcast as a last-ditch attempt to stay in the industry.[130] Although its launch was successful, the technically superior 128-bit console was unable to subdue Sony's dominance in the industry.[131][132] Sony still held 60% of the overall video game market share in North America at the end of 1999.[133] Sega's initial confidence in their new console was undermined when Japanese sales were lower than expected,[134] with disgruntled Japanese consumers reportedly returning their Dreamcasts in exchange for PlayStation software.[135] On 2 March 1999, Sony officially revealed details of the PlayStation 2, which Kutaragi announced would feature a graphics processor designed to push more raw polygons than any console in history, effectively rivalling most supercomputers.[136][137] The PlayStation continued to sell strongly at the turn of the new millennium: in June 2000, Sony released the PSOne, a smaller, redesigned variant which went on to outsell all other consoles in that year, including the PlayStation 2.[138] The combined successes of both PlayStation consoles led to Sega retiring the Dreamcast in 2001, and abandoning the console business entirely.[132] The PlayStation was eventually discontinued on 23 March 2006—over eleven years after its release, and less than a year before the debut of the PlayStation 3....Game library See also: List of PlayStation games (A–L), List of PlayStation games (M–Z), List of best-selling PlayStation video games, and List of cancelled PlayStation video games A total of 7,918 PlayStation games have been released worldwide.[193] The PlayStation's bestselling game is Gran Turismo (1997), which sold 10.85 million units.[11] After the PlayStation's discontinuation in 2006, the cumulative software shipment was 962 million units.[194] The PlayStation featured a diverse game library which grew to appeal to all types of players. The first two games available at launch were Jumping Flash! (1995) and Ridge Racer,[195][196] with Jumping Flash! heralded as an ancestor for 3D graphics in console gaming.[197] Critically acclaimed PlayStation games included Final Fantasy VII (1997), Crash Bandicoot (1996), Spyro the Dragon (1998), Metal Gear Solid (1998), all of which became established franchises. Final Fantasy VII is credited with allowing role-playing games to gain mass-market appeal outside Japan,[198] and is considered one of the most influential and greatest video games ever made.[199] At the time of the PlayStation's first Christmas season, Psygnosis had produced around 70% of its launch catalogue;[65] its breakthrough racing game Wipeout was acclaimed for its techno soundtrack and helped raise awareness of Britain's underground music community.[200] Eidos Interactive's action-adventure game Tomb Raider contributed substantially to the success of the console in 1996,[201] with its main protagonist Lara Croft becoming an early gaming icon and garnering unprecedented media promotion.[202][203] Licensed tie-in video games of popular films were also prevalent; Argonaut Games' 2001 adaptation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone went on to sell over eight million copies late in the console's lifespan.[204] Third-party developers committed largely to the console's wide-ranging game catalogue even after the launch of the PlayStation 2.[79][142] Initially, in the United States, PlayStation games were packaged in long cardboard boxes, similar to non-Japanese 3DO and Saturn games. Sony later switched to the jewel case format typically used for audio CDs and Japanese video games, as this format took up less retailer shelf space (which was at a premium due to the large number of PlayStation games being released), and focus testing showed that most consumers preferred this format.[205] Reception The PlayStation was mostly well received upon release. Critics in the west generally welcomed the new console; the staff of Next Generation reviewed the PlayStation a few weeks after its North American launch, where they commented that, while the CPU is "fairly average", the supplementary custom hardware, such as the GPU and sound processor, is stunningly powerful. They praised the PlayStation's focus on 3D, and complemented the comfort of its controller and the convenience of its memory cards. Giving the system 41⁄2 out of 5 stars, they concluded, "To succeed in this extremely cut-throat market, you need a combination of great hardware, great games, and great marketing. Whether by skill, luck, or just deep pockets, Sony has scored three out of three in the first salvo of this war".[206] Albert Kim from Entertainment Weekly praised the PlayStation as a technological marvel, rivalling that of Sega and Nintendo.[207] Famicom Tsūshin scored the console a 19 out of 40, lower than the Saturn's 24 out of 40, in May 1995.[208] In a 1997 year-end review, a team of five Electronic Gaming Monthly editors gave the PlayStation scores of 9.5, 8.5, 9.0, 9.0, and 9.5—for all five editors, the highest score they gave to any of the five consoles reviewed in the issue. They lauded the breadth and quality of the games library, saying it had vastly improved over previous years due to developers mastering the system's capabilities in addition to Sony revising its stance on 2D and role playing games. They also complimented the low price point of the games compared to the Nintendo 64's, and noted that it was the only console on the market that could be relied upon to deliver a solid stream of games for the coming year, primarily due to third party developers almost unanimously favouring it over its competitors.[209] Legacy SCE was an upstart in the video game industry in late 1994, as the video game market in the early 1990s was dominated by Nintendo and Sega. Nintendo had been the clear leader in the industry since the introduction of the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985 and the Nintendo 64 was initially expected to maintain this position. The PlayStation's target audience included the generation which was the first to grow up with mainstream video games, along with 18- to 29-year-olds who were not the primary focus of Nintendo.[210] By the late 1990s, Sony became a highly regarded console brand due to the PlayStation, with a significant lead over second-place Nintendo, while Sega was relegated to a distant third.[211] The PlayStation became the first "computer entertainment platform" to ship over 100 million units worldwide,[8][212] with many critics attributing the console's success to third-party developers.[83] It remains the fifth best-selling console of all time as of 2023, with a total of 102.49 million units sold.[212] Around 7,900 individual games were published for the console during its 11-year life span, the second-most games ever produced for a console.[8] Its success resulted in a significant financial boon for Sony as profits from its video game division contributed to 23%.[213] Sony's next-generation PlayStation 2, which is backward compatible with the PlayStation's DualShock controller and games, was announced in 1999 and launched in 2000. The PlayStation's lead in installed base and developer support paved the way for the success of its successor,[211] which overcame the earlier launch of the Sega's Dreamcast and then fended off competition from Microsoft's newcomer Xbox and Nintendo's GameCube.[214][215][216] The PlayStation 2's immense success and failure of the Dreamcast were among the main factors which led to Sega abandoning the console market.[217][218] To date, five PlayStation home consoles have been released, which have continued the same numbering scheme, as well as two portable systems. Hundreds of PlayStation games were re-released as PS One Classics for purchase and download on the PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Vita.[219] The PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 also maintained backward compatibility with original PlayStation discs.[220] The PlayStation has often ranked among the best video game consoles. In 2018, Retro Gamer named it the third best console, crediting its sophisticated 3D capabilities as one of its key factors in gaining mass success, and lauding it as a "game-changer in every sense possible".[221] In 2009, IGN ranked the PlayStation the seventh best console in their list, noting its appeal towards older audiences to be a crucial factor in propelling the video game industry, as well as its assistance in transitioning game industry to use the CD-ROM format.[222] Keith Stuart from The Guardian likewise named it as the seventh best console in 2020, declaring that its success was so profound it "ruled the 1990s".[223] CD format The success of the PlayStation contributed to the demise of cartridge-based home consoles. While not the first system to use an optical disc format, it was the first highly successful one, and ended up going head-to-head with the proprietary cartridge-relying Nintendo 64.[c][215] After the demise of the Sega Saturn, Nintendo was left as Sony's main competitor in Western markets. Nintendo chose not to use CDs for the Nintendo 64; it was likely concerned with the proprietary cartridge format's ability to help enforce copy protection, given its substantial reliance on licensing and exclusive games for its revenue.[225] Besides their larger capacity, CD-ROMs could be produced in bulk quantities at a much faster rate than ROM cartridges, a week compared to two to three months.[226][227] Further, the cost of production per unit was far cheaper, allowing Sony to offer games about 40% lower cost to the user compared to ROM cartridges while still making the same amount of net revenue. In Japan, Sony published fewer copies of a wide variety of games for the PlayStation as a risk-limiting step, a model that had been used by Sony Music for CD audio discs. The production flexibility of CD-ROMs meant that Sony could produce larger volumes of popular games to get onto the market quickly, something that could not be done with cartridges due to their manufacturing lead time.[228][229] The lower production costs of CD-ROMs also allowed publishers an additional source of profit: budget-priced reissues of games which had already recouped their development costs.[112] Tokunaka remarked in 1996:     Choosing CD-ROM is one of the most important decisions that we made. As I'm sure you understand, PlayStation could just as easily have worked with masked ROM [cartridges]. The 3D engine and everything—the whole PlayStation format—is independent of the media. But for various reasons (including the economies for the consumer, the ease of the manufacturing, inventory control for the trade, and also the software publishers) we deduced that CD-ROM would be the best media for PlayStation.[112] The increasing complexity of developing games pushed cartridges to their storage limits and gradually discouraged some third-party developers. Part of the CD format's appeal to publishers was that they could be produced at a significantly lower cost and offered more production flexibility to meet demand.[215] As a result, some third-party developers switched to the PlayStation, including Square, whose Final Fantasy VII, and Enix (later merged with Square to form Square Enix), whose Dragon Quest VII (2000) were planned for the Nintendo 64.[230][231] Other developers released fewer games for the Nintendo 64 (Konami, releasing only thirteen N64 games but over fifty on the PlayStation). Nintendo 64 game releases were less frequent than the PlayStation's, with many being developed by either Nintendo itself or second-parties such as Rare." (wikipedia.org) "Tyrannosaurus[nb 1] is a genus of large theropod dinosaur. The species Tyrannosaurus rex (rex meaning "king" in Latin), often called T. rex or colloquially T-Rex, is one of the best represented theropods. It lived throughout what is now western North America, on what was then an island continent known as Laramidia. Tyrannosaurus had a much wider range than other tyrannosaurids. Fossils are found in a variety of rock formations dating to the Maastrichtian age of the Upper Cretaceous period, 68 to 66 million years ago. It was the last known member of the tyrannosaurids and among the last non-avian dinosaurs to exist before the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. Like other tyrannosaurids, Tyrannosaurus was a bipedal carnivore with a massive skull balanced by a long, heavy tail. Relative to its large and powerful hind limbs, the forelimbs of Tyrannosaurus were short but unusually powerful for their size, and they had two clawed digits. The most complete specimen measures up to 12.3–12.4 m (40.4–40.7 ft) in length; however, according to most modern estimates, T. rex could grow to lengths of over 12.4 m (40.7 ft), up to 3.66–3.96 m (12–13 ft) tall at the hips, and 8.87 metric tons (9.78 short tons) in body mass. Although other theropods rivaled or exceeded Tyrannosaurus rex in size, it is still among the largest known land predators and is estimated to have exerted the strongest bite force among all terrestrial animals. By far the largest carnivore in its environment, Tyrannosaurus rex was most likely an apex predator, preying upon hadrosaurs, juvenile armored herbivores like ceratopsians and ankylosaurs, and possibly sauropods. Some experts have suggested the dinosaur was primarily a scavenger. The question of whether Tyrannosaurus was an apex predator or a pure scavenger was among the longest debates in paleontology. Most paleontologists today accept that Tyrannosaurus was both an active predator and a scavenger. Specimens of Tyrannosaurus rex include some that are nearly complete skeletons. Soft tissue and proteins have been reported in at least one of these specimens. The abundance of fossil material has allowed significant research into many aspects of its biology, including its life history and biomechanics. The feeding habits, physiology, and potential speed of Tyrannosaurus rex are a few subjects of debate. Its taxonomy is also controversial, as some scientists consider Tarbosaurus bataar from Asia to be a second Tyrannosaurus species, while others maintain Tarbosaurus is a separate genus. Several other genera of North American tyrannosaurids have also been synonymized with Tyrannosaurus. As the archetypal theropod, Tyrannosaurus has been one of the best-known dinosaurs since the early 20th century and has been featured in film, advertising, postal stamps, and many other media.... Skeleton discovery and naming Skeletal restoration by William D. Matthew from 1905, published alongside Osborn's description paper Barnum Brown, assistant curator of the American Museum of Natural History, found the first partial skeleton of T. rex in eastern Wyoming in 1900. Brown found another partial skeleton in the Hell Creek Formation in Montana in 1902, comprising approximately 34 fossilized bones.[6] Writing at the time Brown said "Quarry No. 1 contains the femur, pubes, humerus, three vertebrae and two undetermined bones of a large Carnivorous Dinosaur not described by Marsh. ... I have never seen anything like it from the Cretaceous".[7] Henry Fairfield Osborn, president of the American Museum of Natural History, named the second skeleton T. rex in 1905. The generic name is derived from the Greek words τύραννος (tyrannos, meaning "tyrant") and σαῦρος (sauros, meaning "lizard"). Osborn used the Latin word rex, meaning "king", for the specific name. The full binomial therefore translates to "tyrant lizard the king" or "King Tyrant Lizard", emphasizing the animal's size and presumed dominance over other species of the time.[6] Dynamosaurus imperiosus holotype, Natural History Museum Osborn named the other specimen Dynamosaurus imperiosus in a paper in 1905.[6] In 1906, Osborn recognized that the two skeletons were from the same species and selected Tyrannosaurus as the preferred name.[8] The original Dynamosaurus material resides in the collections of the Natural History Museum, London.[9] In 1941, the T. rex type specimen was sold to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for $7,000.[7] Dynamosaurus would later be honored by the 2018 description of another species of tyrannosaurid by Andrew McDonald and colleagues, Dynamoterror dynastes, whose name was chosen in reference to the 1905 name, as it had been a "childhood favorite" of McDonald's.[10] From the 1910s through the end of the 1950s, Barnum's discoveries remained the only specimens of Tyrannosaurus, as the Great Depression and wars kept many paleontologists out of the field.[5] Resurgent interest Specimen "Sue", Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago Beginning in the 1960s, there was renewed interest in Tyrannosaurus, resulting in the recovery of 42 skeletons (5–80% complete by bone count) from Western North America.[5] In 1967, Dr. William MacMannis located and recovered the skeleton named "MOR 008", which is 15% complete by bone count and has a reconstructed skull displayed at the Museum of the Rockies. The 1990s saw numerous discoveries, with nearly twice as many finds as in all previous years, including two of the most complete skeletons found to date: Sue and Stan.[5] Sue Hendrickson, an amateur paleontologist, discovered the most complete (approximately 85%) and largest Tyrannosaurus skeleton in the Hell Creek Formation on August 12, 1990. The specimen Sue, named after the discoverer, was the object of a legal battle over its ownership. In 1997, the litigation was settled in favor of Maurice Williams, the original land owner. The fossil collection was purchased by the Field Museum of Natural History at auction for $7.6 million, making it the most expensive dinosaur skeleton until the sale of Stan for $31.8 million in 2020.[11] From 1998 to 1999, Field Museum of Natural History staff spent over 25,000 hours taking the rock off the bones.[12] The bones were then shipped to New Jersey where the mount was constructed, then shipped back to Chicago for the final assembly. The mounted skeleton opened to the public on May 17, 2000, in the Field Museum of Natural History. A study of this specimen's fossilized bones showed that Sue reached full size at age 19 and died at the age of 28, the longest estimated life of any tyrannosaur known.[13] "Scotty", the largest known specimen, exhibited in Japan Another Tyrannosaurus, nicknamed Stan (BHI 3033), in honor of amateur paleontologist Stan Sacrison, was recovered from the Hell Creek Formation in 1992. Stan is the second most complete skeleton found, with 199 bones recovered representing 70% of the total.[14] This tyrannosaur also had many bone pathologies, including broken and healed ribs, a broken (and healed) neck, and a substantial hole in the back of its head, about the size of a Tyrannosaurus tooth.[15] In 1998, Bucky Derflinger noticed a T. rex toe exposed above ground, making Derflinger, who was 20 years old at the time, the youngest person to discover a Tyrannosaurus. The specimen, dubbed Bucky in honor of its discoverer, was a young adult, 3.0 metres (10 ft) tall and 11 metres (35 ft) long. Bucky is the first Tyrannosaurus to be found that preserved a furcula (wishbone). Bucky is permanently displayed at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis.[16] The specimens "Sue", AMNH 5027, "Stan", and "Jane", to scale with a human. In the summer of 2000, crews organized by Jack Horner discovered five Tyrannosaurus skeletons near the Fort Peck Reservoir.[17] In 2001, a 50% complete skeleton of a juvenile Tyrannosaurus was discovered in the Hell Creek Formation by a crew from the Burpee Museum of Natural History. Dubbed Jane (BMRP 2002.4.1), the find was thought to be the first known skeleton of a pygmy tyrannosaurid, Nanotyrannus, but subsequent research revealed that it is more likely a juvenile Tyrannosaurus, and the most complete juvenile example known;[18] Jane is exhibited at the Burpee Museum of Natural History.[19] In 2002, a skeleton named Wyrex, discovered by amateur collectors Dan Wells and Don Wyrick, had 114 bones and was 38% complete. The dig was concluded over 3 weeks in 2004 by the Black Hills Institute with the first live online Tyrannosaurus excavation providing daily reports, photos, and video.[5] In 2006, Montana State University revealed that it possessed the largest Tyrannosaurus skull yet discovered (from a specimen named MOR 008), measuring 5 feet (152 cm) long.[20] Subsequent comparisons indicated that the longest head was 136.5 centimetres (53.7 in) (from specimen LACM 23844) and the widest head was 90.2 centimetres (35.5 in) (from Sue)....Posture Outdated reconstruction (by Charles R. Knight), showing upright pose Like many bipedal dinosaurs, T. rex was historically depicted as a 'living tripod', with the body at 45 degrees or less from the vertical and the tail dragging along the ground, similar to a kangaroo. This concept dates from Joseph Leidy's 1865 reconstruction of Hadrosaurus, the first to depict a dinosaur in a bipedal posture.[115] In 1915, convinced that the creature stood upright, Henry Fairfield Osborn, former president of the American Museum of Natural History, further reinforced the notion in unveiling the first complete T. rex skeleton arranged this way. It stood in an upright pose for 77 years, until it was dismantled in 1992.[116] By 1970, scientists realized this pose was incorrect and could not have been maintained by a living animal, as it would have resulted in the dislocation or weakening of several joints, including the hips and the articulation between the head and the spinal column.[117] The inaccurate AMNH mount inspired similar depictions in many films and paintings (such as Rudolph Zallinger's famous mural The Age of Reptiles in Yale University's Peabody Museum of Natural History)[118] until the 1990s, when films such as Jurassic Park introduced a more accurate posture to the general public.[119] Modern representations in museums, art, and film show T. rex with its body approximately parallel to the ground with the tail extended behind the body to balance the head.[120] To sit down, Tyrannosaurus may have settled its weight backwards and rested its weight on a pubic boot, the wide expansion at the end of the pubis in some dinosaurs. With its weight rested on the pelvis, it may have been free to move the hindlimbs. Getting back up again might have involved some stabilization from the diminutive forelimbs.[121][117] The latter known as Newman's pushup theory has been debated. Nonetheless, Tyrannosaurus was probably able to get up if it fell, which only would have required placing the limbs below the center of gravity, with the tail as an effective counterbalance. Healed stress fractures in the forelimbs have been put forward both as evidence that the arms cannot have been very useful[122][123] and as evidence that they were indeed used and acquired wounds,[124] like the rest of the body. Arms The forelimbs might have been used to help T. rex rise from a resting pose, as seen in this cast (Bucky specimen) When T. rex was first discovered, the humerus was the only element of the forelimb known.[6] For the initial mounted skeleton as seen by the public in 1915, Osborn substituted longer, three-fingered forelimbs like those of Allosaurus.[4] A year earlier, Lawrence Lambe described the short, two-fingered forelimbs of the closely related Gorgosaurus.[125] This strongly suggested that T. rex had similar forelimbs, but this hypothesis was not confirmed until the first complete T. rex forelimbs were identified in 1989, belonging to MOR 555 (the "Wankel rex").[126][127] The remains of Sue also include complete forelimbs.[50] T. rex arms are very small relative to overall body size, measuring only 1 meter (3.3 ft) long, and some scholars have labelled them as vestigial. However, the bones show large areas for muscle attachment, indicating considerable strength. This was recognized as early as 1906 by Osborn, who speculated that the forelimbs may have been used to grasp a mate during copulation.[8] Newman (1970) suggested that the forelimbs were used to assist Tyrannosaurus in rising from a prone position.[117] Since then, other functions have been proposed, although some scholars find them implausible.[123] Padian (2022) argued that the reduction of the arms in tyrannosaurids did not serve a particular function but was a secondary adaptation, stating that as tyrannosaurids developed larger and more powerful skulls and jaws, the arms got smaller to avoid being bitten or torn by other individuals, particularly during group feedings.[123] Diagram illustrating arm anatomy Another possibility is that the forelimbs held struggling prey while it was killed by the tyrannosaur's enormous jaws. This hypothesis may be supported by biomechanical analysis. T. rex forelimb bones exhibit extremely thick cortical bone, which has been interpreted as evidence that they were developed to withstand heavy loads. The biceps brachii muscle of an adult T. rex was capable of lifting 199 kilograms (439 lb) by itself; other muscles such as the brachialis would work along with the biceps to make elbow flexion even more powerful. The M. biceps muscle of T. rex was 3.5 times as powerful as the human equivalent. A T. rex forearm had a limited range of motion, with the shoulder and elbow joints allowing only 40 and 45 degrees of motion, respectively. In contrast, the same two joints in Deinonychus allow up to 88 and 130 degrees of motion, respectively, while a human arm can rotate 360 degrees at the shoulder and move through 165 degrees at the elbow. The heavy build of the arm bones, strength of the muscles, and limited range of motion may indicate a system evolved to hold fast despite the stresses of a struggling prey animal. In the first detailed scientific description of Tyrannosaurus forelimbs, paleontologists Kenneth Carpenter and Matt Smith dismissed notions that the forelimbs were useless or that Tyrannosaurus was an obligate scavenger.[128] The idea that the arms served as weapons when hunting prey have also been proposed by Steven M. Stanley, who suggested that the arms were used for slashing prey, especially by using the claws to rapidly inflict long, deep gashes to its prey.[129] This was dismissed by Padian, who have argued that Stanley based his conclusion on incorrectly estimated forelimb size and range of motion....Cultural significance Main article: Tyrannosaurus in popular culture Since it was first described in 1905, T. rex has become the most widely recognized dinosaur species in popular culture. It is the only dinosaur that is commonly known to the general public by its full scientific name (binomial name) and the scientific abbreviation T. rex has also come into wide usage.[50] Robert T. Bakker notes this in The Dinosaur Heresies and explains that, "a name like 'T. rex' is just irresistible to the tongue."" (wikipedia.org) "Tyrannosaurus rex is unique among dinosaurs in its place in modern culture; paleontologist Robert Bakker has called it "the most popular dinosaur among people of all ages, all cultures, and all nationalities".[1] Paleontologists Mark Norell and Lowell Dingus have likewise called it "the most famous dinosaur of all times."[2] Paleoartist Gregory S. Paul has called it "the theropod. [...] This is the public's favorite dinosaur [...] Even the formations it is found in have fantastic names like Hell Creek and Lance."[3] Other paleontologists agree with that and note that whenever a museum erects a new skeleton or bring in an animatronic model, visitor numbers go up. "Jurassic Park and King Kong would not have been the same without it."[4] In the public mind, T. rex sets the standard of what a dinosaur should be.[5] Tyrannosaurus was first discovered by paleontologist Barnum Brown in the badlands of Hell Creek, Montana, in 1902 and has since been frequently represented in film and on television, in literature, on the Internet and in many kinds of games. Brown himself, despite having discovered many other prehistoric animals for the American Museum of Natural History before and after, always referred Tyrannosaurus rex as "my favorite child".[6] In Brown's own words, Tyrannosaurus rex was indeed "king of the period and monarch of its race... He is now the dominant figure in the Cretaceous Hall to awe and inspire young boys when they grow up."[7] General impact On finding Tyrannosaurus, Barnum Brown wrote to Henry Fairfield Osborn, his employer and the President of the American Museum of Natural History, "Quarry No. 1 contains the [...] bones of a large Carnivorous Dinosaur, not described by Marsh. [...] I have never seen anything like it from the Cretaceous."[8] On realizing that the find was unlike anything ever found before, Osborn, according to Robert Bakker, "sat down to construct a name that expressed the position of Mr. Rex in the ecosystem, this apex of carnivory. The name has to be evocative, it has to be beautiful, it has to be lyrical. You hear it once you remember it. [...] Tyrant. Lizard. King. Beautiful, short, you hear it once you remember it and it can be abbreviated. T. rex."[9] Osborn stated in 1905,[10]     I propose to make this animal the type of the new genus, Tyrannosaurus, in reference to its size, which far exceeds that of any carnivorous land animal hitherto described...This animal is in fact the ne plus ultra of the evolution of the large carnivorous dinosaurs: in brief it is entitled to the royal and high sounding group name which I have applied to it. Tyrannosaurus gained widespread public attention on December 30, 1905, when the New York Times hailed T. rex as "the most formidable fighting animal of which there is any record whatever," the "king of all kings in the domain of animal life," "the absolute warlord of the earth," and a "royal man-eater of the jungle."[11] In 1906, Tyrannosaurus was dubbed the "prize fighter of antiquity" and the "Last of the Great Reptiles and the King of Them All."[12] In 1927, Charles R. Knight painted a mural incorporating Tyrannosaurus facing a Triceratops in the Field Museum of Natural History,[13] establishing the two dinosaurs as enemies in popular thought;[14] paleontologist Phil Currie cites this mural as one of his inspirations to study dinosaurs.[10] Bakker said of the imagined rivalry between Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops, "No matchup between predator and prey has ever been more dramatic. It's somehow fitting that those two massive antagonists lived out their co-evolutionary belligerence through the very last days of the very last epoch of the Age of Dinosaurs."[14] Since then, popular culture has consistently depicted Tyrannosaurs as "King of the Dinosaurs" for decades. Portrayals have ranged from serving as an antagonist against whom human heroes could test their courage to an awe inspiring symbol of power, analogous to the lion's depiction as "King of the Beasts". According to paleontologist and museum curator Mark Norell, Barnum Brown successor at the American Museum of Natural History, Tyrannosaurus rex, "continues to be a subject of fascination, a popular icon, and probably the first dinosaur name imprinted in the minds of children globally. Besides all this, it is the inspiration for budding paleontologists worldwide. Long may the king reign."[15] Film appearances 1:41 Segment of the 1925 film The Lost World, featuring Agathaumas, Tyrannosaurus and Pteranodon Tyrannosaurus rex has played a major role in many films, starting in 1918 with The Ghost of Slumber Mountain, written and directed by stop motion special effects pioneer Willis O'Brien.[16] The Ghost of Slumber Mountain is also, and most likely, the first film showing Tyrannosaurus facing Triceratops. However, while Ghost was the first of O'Brien's works to feature the dinosaur it was not the last time he would use the dinosaur, using it again in 1925, with the classic adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's 1912 novel The Lost World. Tyrannosaurus fossils were not so famous at the time of the publication of the novel (1912), and the only main villain dinosaur in the book was Allosaurus, with no appearance of Tyrannosaurus, but this 1925 film featured Tyrannosaurus anyway, for a more dramatic and spectacular effect. For his part, Bakker commented that "Willis O'Brien was a scholarly man, anatomically literate he went to the American museum, he saw the skeletons, he thought about them, he saw Knight's paintings and the sculptures. He listened to Osborn's ideas and although T. rex has a bit part in the movie, T. rex influence is huge."[17] Promotional photo of a Tyrannosaurus battling King Kong (1933) O'Brien was again responsible for special effects in the 1933 monster movie King Kong, which featured a climactic battle between the giant ape and a Tyrannosaurus. This scene is credited with the film's success both in terms of cinematic experience and in securing financial backing. In a 2005 tongue in cheek mockumentary, "T. Rex: A Dinosaur in Hollywood," no one less than Kong himself explained why. "Well, I had to find a suitably impressive monster to showoff my great strength and ruthlessness. There was only one real choice!" [18] In real life, film historian and Kong scholar Ray Morton agreed with the previous statement. According to Morton, RKO film studio wanted to halt production on King Kong on account of it going over budget. Merian C Cooper, Kong's creator, then showed the studio heads a 20 minute test reel he and his team had made. The footage was of T. Rex's fight with Kong and was this scene that convinced the studio heads that the film had to be made, regardless of costs.[19] O'Brien had not originally meant to create Kong, instead seeking to make a film about a lost island of dinosaurs wherein the T. rex would have featured in the climax. When this film, Creation was cancelled, O'Brien used the T. rex model he had made and reused it (along with other dinosaur models) for King Kong. The Tyrannosaurus model was made using a cast based on an early painting by Charles R. Knight. O'Brien stated that the battle between Kong and the Tyrannosaurus was one of the most technically difficult scenes in the film to animate. Many early films depicted Tyrannosaurus with an upright posture based on the current thinking of the time. Most of these films inaccurately portrayed the dinosaur with three prominent fingers on each hand like Allosaurus (though Tyrannosaurus had a third, vestigial finger, it would not have been noticeable at first glance);[20] Walt Disney is reported to have informed dinosaur hunter Barnum Brown that "it looked better that way", and the creature was depicted as such as in the Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring segment in the Walt Disney 1940 animated film Fantasia. Since that time, T. rex has appeared in a great number of "monster" films and educational documentaries.[10] One of the first appearances which portrayed a proper posture and anatomy of Tyrannosaurus is the 1984 short Prehistoric Beast,[21] fully conceived and made by Phil Tippett by means of his so-called go motion technique. One of the most iconic depictions of Tyrannosaurus in film was in 1993's Jurassic Park, where dinosaurs, including T. rex, are brought back to life using blood from fossilized mosquitoes. In the film, the dinosaur breaks free of its theme park enclosure, and proceeds to roam the park after attacking the visitors and killing one (a lawyer). In the film's finale, the Tyrannosaurus (also known as Rexy by fans) indirectly saves the main characters by killing the Velociraptors, who had been hunting them through the visitor center. The popularity of T. rex has long had a reciprocal effect on dinosaur science; the popularity of Jurassic Park factored into the discovery of the dinosaur genus Scipionyx; fossils of this genus had lain in storage in a basement in Italy until the film's release attracted attention from the fossil owner.[22] Two Tyrannosaurus appeared again as primary antagonists in The Lost World, the sequel to Jurassic Park. In Jurassic Park III, it appeared briefly in a confrontation against the main antagonist, Spinosaurus, only to be killed by it. In a twist, the same Tyrannosaurus from the original 1993 film reappears as the climactic protagonist in Jurassic World (2015), making an entrance by smashing through a Spinosaurus skeleton. Against the odds, it defeats the Indominus rex, with the assistance of a Velociraptor, dubbed "Blue," and a Mosasaurus. This specific Tyrannosaurus reappears again in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Jurassic World: Dominion. Tyrannosaurus is one of the three dinosaur types whose physical characteristics were combined by the designers at Toho, to create the Japanese monster Godzilla; the other two dinosaurs were Stegosaurus and Iguanodon. Among other appearances, Tyrannosaurus has made major appearances in many other films, including Dinosaurus! (1960), The Last Dinosaur (1977), The Land Before Time and its direct-to-video sequels (1988–2016), We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (1993), Toy Story (1995), Night at the Museum (2006), Meet the Robinsons (2007), Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009), and The Good Dinosaur (2015). The IMAX 3D film T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous (1998) featured a Tyrannosaurus in various time travel sequences, as well as its discoverer, Barnum Brown. Some Japanese animated films have a Tyrannosaurus as a main protagonist (You Are Umasou, 2010), as the main villain (Daikyouryu no Jidai, The Age of the Great Dinosaurs, 1979), as a minor antagonist (Magic Tree House, 2011), or as a neutral character (Doraemon: Nobita's Dinosaur, 1980, as well as its 2006 remake). Dinosaur Island, 2014, features a feathered Tyrannosaurus, reflecting more modern understanding of the dinosaurs' appearance. Television appearances Tyrannosaurus has starred in several television series, including children's programs, both in those intended as fiction, and, more recently, documentaries. In the American children's show Barney & Friends, Barney is a stylized Tyrannosaurus rex. In the Australian children's show The Wiggles, the character "Dorothy the Dinosaur" is a stylized adaptation of a Tyrannosaurus. Some Tyrannosaurus characters appear in Dinosaur Train, most prominently Buddy. Tyrannosaurus was one of several dinosaurs featured in the 1974 Doctor Who adventure Invasion of the Dinosaurs, starring Jon Pertwee. A sleeping juvenile is also seen on the Silurian ark in "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship". A time-travelled Tyrannosaurus is seen in London in "Deep Breath". In 1985 the 1984 Prehistoric Beast short was served to Robert Guenette to direct a full length TV documentary titled Dinosaur!, for which Phil Tippett made new Tyrannosaurus go motion sequences (chasing Hadrosaurus) in addition to those he made for Prehistoric Beast (where Tyrannosaurus was chasing Monoclonius). In the 1985 anime Transformers the popular Autobot, Grimlock, transformed into a mechanical Tyrannosaurus and in later incarnations a "Megaraptor". In the sequel series, Beast Wars, Megatron, the leader of the Predacons, turned into a techno-organic Tyrannosaurus. In the cartoon The Terrible Thunderlizards, 'Mr. T' plays a Tyrannosaurus rex called Mr. T-rex. General Galapagos, the boss of the Thunderlizards, is also a Tyrannosaurus. The T-rex plays recurring supporting roles in Dinosaurs (Roy Hess, Earl Sinclair's closest friend and the Sinclairs' neighbor), Dinosaucers (Genghis Rex, who is the leader of the Evil Tyrannos), Extreme Dinosaurs (T-Bone, the leader of the heroic group of the same namesake) as well as the anime television series Dinozaurs (as "Dino Tyranno" and his short-lived evil counterpart "Drago Tyran"). In Land of the Lost a Tyrannosaurus rex played the villain in both the 1974 series (as "Grumpy") and the 1991 version (as "Scarface", who had a scar covering his right eye). In the Ben 10 episode "Washington B.C.", Dr. Animo brings back a Tyrannosaurus with its skeleton. In Dino-Riders, the main villain Lord Krulos uses a Tyrannosaurus as his mount. In the Japanese TV series Dinosaur War Izenborg, a Tyrannosaurus named Ururu (renamed "Tyrannus" in the US re-edit Attack of the Super Monsters) served as the main villain for the first half of the series. A Tyrannosaurus named Tyrannor was the main antagonist of Dink the Little Dinosaur. An anthropomorphic Tyrannosaurus named Johnny T. Rex is one of the villains in the Disney Afternoon series Darkwing Duck. Documentaries and quasi-documentaries featuring Tyrannosaurus have included Dinosaur!, Dinosaur Planet, Prehistoric Park, T. Rex: New Science, New Beast, The Truth About Killer Dinosaurs, Walking with Dinosaurs, When Dinosaurs Roamed America, Sea Monsters - A Walking with Dinosaurs Trilogy, Valley of the T-Rex, Dinosaurs Decoded, Bizarre Dinosaurs, Giant Monsters, Animal Armageddon, Jurassic Fight Club, Dinolab, T-rex: Warrior or Wimp?, T. Rex: A Dinosaur in Hollywood, Dinosaur Revolution, Prehistoric Planet, The Last Dragon, and Planet Dinosaur, in which it only appears as a skeleton image. Chomper from The Land Before Time series, as well as Red Claw from the TV series, and Sharptooth from the original film are all tyrannosaurs. Tyrannosaurus-themed mecha have appeared in the Super Sentai series beginning with Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger in Shogozyu Tyrannosaurus, V-Rex of Mirai Sentai Timeranger, Bakuryu Tyranno of Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger, Gozyu Rex of Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, Gabutyra of Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger and recently Tyramigo of Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger. They also appear in their respective Power Rangers adaptations, specifically in the first season of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, Power Rangers Time Force, Power Rangers Dino Thunder, Power Rangers Super Megaforce, Power Rangers Dino Charge and Power Rangers Dino Fury. A CGI animated Tyrannosaurus rex named Tina Rex is a bully in Gumball's school in the 2011–2019 animated series on Cartoon Network, The Amazing World of Gumball. In Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal, a female Tyrannosaurus develops a bond with a Neanderthal male. The series revolves around them struggling to survive in a prehistoric-like world. In Dinosaur King the main Tyrannosaurus is named Terry. Literature In literature, a dominant representation of Tyrannosaurus since 1990 has been that of Michael Crichton's, as seen in the novel Jurassic Park and its sequel The Lost World (homage title to the 1912 novel by Arthur Conan Doyle, about scientists discovering a South American plateau where dinosaurs still exist). Its skeleton was also used to illustrate the covers of these books. A Tyrannosaurus rex was the protagonist of the children's book We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (later adapted into a feature-length film of the same name). Tyrannosaurus has also been featured in the novel Primeval: Extinction Event, by Dan Abnett. Other appearances Tyrannosaurus has appeared in many media and is perhaps one of, if not the most widely used dinosaurs. Various incarnations of, and creatures based on T. rex have appeared in video games, and several game series have featured Tyrannosaurus a centerpiece. These include 3D Monster Maze, the Dino Crisis/Dino Stalker line, various Jurassic Park tie-in games, the Turok game series, Tomb Raider, the Zoo Tycoon series, the survival game Ark: Survival Evolved, the simulation games Saurian and The Isle, and Super Mario Odyssey. Full size animatronic Tyrannosaurus being assembled in Combe Martin Wildlife and Dinosaur Park, North Devon, United Kingdom. Numerous models and children's toys depicting Tyrannosaurus have been produced, particularly in promotion of the Jurassic Park films. The Carnegie Museum Dinosaur Collection toy line released three versions of the dinosaur, with the second brought in line with more modern scientific understanding. Sinclair Oil ads from the 1950s frequently featured T. rex,[23] and products from radio-controlled helicopter models to a rifle cartridge (the .577 T-Rex) have been named after the dinosaur.[24] In music, the popular 1970s glam rock band T. Rex took their name from the famous dinosaur. In Banjo-Tooie, Humba Wumba turns Banjo and Kazooie into a T. rex for 2 different growth stages in the world Terrydactyland. In Wario World, Wario must fight DinoMighty, the Tyrannosaurus boss of Excitement Central. In the F-Zero series of video games, F-Zero racer Bio Rex is a Tyrannosaurus whose machine is the Big Fang. In the Calvin and Hobbes comics, fantasy sequences often featured Tyrannosaurus rex. In one story arc, in which Calvin writes a school paper on the T. rex predator/scavenger debate, he argues that T. rex was a predator because "They're so much cooler that way." T. rex is also featured as the protagonist in the long-running webcomic Dinosaur Comics by Ryan North. Various T. rex have featured in stories published in the British comic 2000AD. Ursula Dubosarsky's picture book, simply called Rex and illustrated by David Mackintosh, concerns a pet lizard that assumes the proportions of a T. rex in the imagination of a series of children.[25] In Pokémon Gold and Silver, the Pokémon Tyranitar is named after the Tyrannosaurus, while its design resembles Godzilla, which was inspired by T. rex. In Pokémon X and Y, there is an evolution family consisting of Tyrunt and Tyrantrum both of which are based on Tyrannosaurus.[26] Their bodies are differently colored. Tyrannosaurus rex was also one of the first superheroes in Marvel Comics series.[27] In Super Mario Odyssey, a T-Rex is featured as an enemy in some areas of the game. The player can control it using Cappy like other enemies, but unlike most they can only control it for a limited time. The T-Rex is not used for many puzzles despite being in many areas in the game. Former WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon had a T. Rex skull hanging on his wall, a gift from his son-in-law Triple H.[28] The skull is prominently visible whenever WWE programming films in his office, such as during the 2020 edition of Money in the Bank." (wikipedia.org) "A personal computer game, also known as computer game or abbreviated PC game, is a electronic game played on a personal computer (PC) and form of video game. They are defined by the open platform nature of PC systems. Mainframe and minicomputer games are a precursor to personal computer games. Home computer games became popular following the video game crash of 1983, leading to the era of the "bedroom coder".[dubious – discuss] In the 1990s, PC games lost mass market traction to console games on the fifth generation such as the Sega Saturn, Nintendo 64 and PlayStation.[citation needed] They are enjoying a resurgence in popularity since the mid-2000s through digital distribution on online service providers.[1][2] Personal computers as well as general computer software are considered synonymous with IBM PC compatible systems; while mobile devices – smartphones and tablets, such as those running on Android or iOS platforms – are also PCs in the general sense as opposed to console or arcade machine. Microsoft Windows utilizing Direct3D has become the most popular operating system for PC games. Games utilizing 3D graphics generally require a form of graphics processing unit, and PC games have been a major influencing factor for the development and marketing of graphics cards. Emulators are able to play games developed for other platforms. The demoscene originated from computer game cracking. The uncoordinated nature of the PC game market make precisely assessing its size difficult.[1] PC remains the most important gaming platform with 60% of developers being most interested in developing a game for the platform and 66% of developers currently developing a game for PC.[3][better source needed] In 2018, the global PC games market was valued at about $27.7 billion.[4][better source needed] According to research data provided by Statista in 2020 there were an estimated 1.75 billion PC gamers worldwide, up from 1.5 billion PC gaming users in the previous year.[5][better source needed] Newzoo reports that the PC gaming sector is the third-largest category across all platforms as of 2016, with the console sector second-largest, and mobile gaming sector biggest. 2.2 billion video gamers generate US$101.1 billion in revenue, excluding hardware costs. "Digital game revenues will account for $94.4 billion or 87% of the global gaming market.[6][7][better source needed] The APAC region was estimated to generate $46.6 billion in 2016, or 47% of total global video game revenues (note, not only "PC" games). China alone accounts for half of APAC's revenues (at $24.4 billion), cementing its place as the largest video game market in the world, ahead of the US's anticipated market size of $23.5 billion....Growth of IBM PC compatible games Among launch titles for the IBM Personal Computer (PC) in 1981 was Microsoft Adventure, which IBM described as bringing "players into a fantasy world of caves and treasures".[21] BYTE that year stated that the computer's speed and sophistication made it "an excellent gaming device", and IBM and others sold games like Microsoft Flight Simulator. The PC's CGA graphics and speaker sound were poor, however, and most customers bought the powerful but expensive computer for business.[22][23] One ComputerLand owner estimated in 1983 that a quarter of corporate executives with computers "have a game hidden somewhere in their drawers",[24] and InfoWorld in 1984 reported that "in offices all over America (more than anyone realizes) executives and managers are playing games on their computers",[25] but software companies found selling games for the PC difficult; an observer said that year that Flight Simulator had sold hundreds of thousands of copies because customers with corporate PCs could claim that it was a "simulation".[26] From mid-1985, however, what Compute! described as a "wave" of inexpensive IBM PC clones from American and Asian companies, such as the Tandy 1000, caused prices to decline; by the end of 1986, the equivalent to a $1600 real IBM PC with 256K RAM and two disk drives cost as little as $600, lower than the price of the Apple IIc. Consumers began purchasing DOS computers for the home in large numbers. While often purchased to do work on evenings and weekends, clones' popularity caused consumer-software companies to increase the number of IBM-compatible products, including those developed specifically for the PC as opposed to porting from other computers. Bing Gordon of Electronic Arts reported that customers used computers for games more than one fifth of the time whether purchased for work or a hobby, with many who purchased computers for other reasons finding PC games "a pretty satisfying experience".[27] By 1987, the PC market was growing so quickly that the formerly business-only computer had become the largest and fastest-growing, and most important platform for computer game companies. DOS computers dominated the home, supplanting Commodore and Apple. More than a third of games sold in North America were for the PC, twice as many as those for the Apple II and even outselling those for the Commodore 64.[28] With the EGA video card, an inexpensive clone had better graphics and more memory for games than the Commodore or Apple,[29][30] and the Tandy 1000's enhanced graphics, sound, and built-in joystick ports made it the best platform for IBM PC-compatible games before the VGA era.[23] By 1988, the enormous popularity of the Nintendo Entertainment System had greatly affected the computer-game industry. A Koei executive claimed that "Nintendo's success has destroyed the [computer] software entertainment market". A Mindscape executive agreed, saying that "Unfortunately, its effect has been extremely negative. Without question, Nintendo's success has eroded software sales. There's been a much greater falling off of disk sales than anyone anticipated." A third attributed the end of growth in sales of the Commodore 64 to the console, and Trip Hawkins called Nintendo "the last hurrah of the 8-bit world". Experts were unsure whether it affected 16-bit computer games,[31] but Hawkins, in 1990, nonetheless had to deny rumors that Electronic Arts would withdraw from computers and only produce console games.[32] By 1993, ASCII Entertainment reported at a Software Publishers Association conference that the market for console games ($5.9 billion in revenue) was 12 times that of the computer-game market ($430 million).[33] However, computer games did not disappear. By 1989, Computer Gaming World reported that "the industry is moving toward heavy use of VGA graphics".[34] While some games were advertised with VGA support at the start of the year, they usually supported EGA graphics through VGA cards. By the end of 1989, however, most publishers moved to at supporting at least 320x200 MCGA, a subset of VGA.[35] VGA gave the PC graphics that outmatched the Amiga. Increasing adoption of the computer mouse, driven partially by the success of adventure games such as the highly successful King's Quest series, and high resolution bitmap displays allowed the industry to include increasingly high-quality graphical interfaces in new releases. Further improvements to game artwork and audio were made possible with the introduction of FM synthesis sound. Yamaha began manufacturing FM synth boards for computers in the early-mid-1980s, and by 1985, the NEC and FM-7 computers had built-in FM sound.[18] The first PC sound cards, such as AdLib's Music Synthesizer Card, soon appeared in 1987. These cards allowed IBM PC compatible computers to produce complex sounds using FM synthesis, where they had previously been limited to simple tones and beeps. However, the rise of the Creative Labs Sound Blaster card, released in 1989, which featured much higher sound quality due to the inclusion of a PCM channel and digital signal processor, led AdLib to file for bankruptcy by 1992. Also in 1989, the FM Towns computer included built-in PCM sound, in addition to a CD-ROM drive and 24-bit color graphics.[18] In the late 80s and throughout the entire 1990s decade, DOS was one of the most popular gaming platforms in regions where it was officially sold.[20] By 1990, DOS was 65% of the computer-game market, with the Amiga at 10%; all other computers, including the Apple Macintosh, were below 10% and declining. Although both Apple and IBM tried to avoid customers associating their products with "game machines", the latter acknowledged that VGA, audio, and joystick options for its PS/1 computer were popular.[36] In 1991, id Software produced an early first-person shooter, Hovertank 3D, which was the company's first in their line of highly influential games in the genre. There were also several other companies that produced early first-person shooters, such as Arsys Software's Star Cruiser,[37] which featured fully 3D polygonal graphics in 1988,[38] and Accolade's Day of the Viper in 1989. Id Software went on to develop Wolfenstein 3D in 1992, which helped to popularize the genre, kick-starting a genre that would become one of the highest-selling in modern times.[39] The game was originally distributed through the shareware distribution model, allowing players to try a limited part of the game for free but requiring payment to play the rest, and represented one of the first uses of texture mapping graphics in a popular game, along with Ultima Underworld.[40] In December 1992, Computer Gaming World reported that DOS accounted for 82% of computer-game sales in 1991, compared to Macintosh's 8% and Amiga's 5%. In response to a reader's challenge to find a DOS game that played better than the Amiga version the magazine cited Wing Commander and Civilization, and added that "The heavy MS-DOS emphasis in CGW merely reflects the realities of the market".[41] A self-reported Computer Gaming World survey in April 1993 similarly found that 91% of readers primarily used IBM PCs and compatibles for gaming, compared to 6% for Amiga, 3% for Macintosh, and 1% for Atari ST,[42] while a Software Publishers Association study found that 74% of personal computers were IBMs or compatible, 10% Macintosh, 7% Apple II, and 8% other. 51% of IBM or compatible had 386 or faster CPUs.[33] By 1992, DOS games such as Links 386 Pro supported Super VGA graphics.[43] While leading Sega and Nintendo console systems kept their CPU speed at 3–7 MHz, the 486 PC processor ran much faster, allowing it to perform many more calculations per second. The 1993 release of Doom on the PC was a breakthrough in 3D graphics, and was soon ported to various game consoles in a general shift toward greater realism.[44] Computer Gaming World reiterated in 1994, "we have to advise readers who want a machine that will play most of the games to purchase high-end MS-DOS machines".[45] By 1993, PC floppy disk games had a sales volume equivalent to about one-quarter that of console game ROM cartridge sales. A hit PC game typically sold about 250,000 disks at the time, while a hit console game typically sold about 1 million cartridges.[46] By spring 1994, an estimated 24 million US homes (27% of households) had a personal computer. 48% played games on their computer; 40% had the 486 CPU or higher; 35% had CD-ROM drives; and 20% had a sound card.[47] Another survey found that an estimated 2.46 million multimedia computers had internal CD-ROM drives by the end of 1993, an increase of almost 2,000%. Computer Gaming World reported in April 1994 that some software publishers planned to only distribute on CD as of 1995.[48] CD-ROM had much larger storage capacity than floppies, helped reduce software piracy, and was less expensive to produce. Chris Crawford warned that it was "a data-intensive technology, not a process-intensive one", tempting developers to emphasize the quantity of digital assets like art and music over the quality of gameplay; Computer Gaming World wrote in 1993 that "publishers may be losing their focus". While many companies used the additional storage to release poor-quality shovelware collections of older software, or "enhanced" versions of existing ones[49]—often with what the magazine mocked as "amateur acting" in the added audio and video[48]—new games such as Myst included many more assets for a richer game experience. Many companies sold "multimedia upgrade kits" that bundled CD drives, sound cards, and software during the mid-1990s, but device drivers for the new peripherals further depleted scarce RAM.[50] By 1993, PC games required much more memory than other software, often consuming all of conventional memory, while device drivers could go into upper memory with DOS memory managers. Players found modifying CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files for memory management cumbersome and confusing, and each game needed a different configuration. (The game Les Manley in: Lost in L.A. satirizes this by depicting two beautiful women exhaust the hero in bed, by requesting that he again explain the difference between extended and expanded memory.) Computer Gaming World provided technical assistance to its writers to help install games for review,[51] and published sample configuration files.[52] The magazine advised non-technical gamers to purchase commercial memory managers like QEMM and 386MAX[50] and criticized nonstandard software like Origin Systems's "infamous late and unlamented Voodoo Memory Manager",[53] which used unreal mode. Contemporary PC gaming See also: Games for Windows Logo used by majority of PC games sold in a DVD format PC Game logo found on most contemporary box arts and trailers By 1996, the growing popularity of Microsoft Windows simplified device driver and memory management. The success of 3D console titles such as Super Mario 64 and Tomb Raider increased interest in hardware accelerated 3D graphics on PCs, and soon resulted in attempts to produce affordable products with the ATI Rage, Matrox Mystique, S3 ViRGE, and Rendition Vérité.[54] As 3D graphics libraries such as DirectX and OpenGL matured and knocked proprietary interfaces out of the market, these platforms gained greater acceptance in the market, particularly with their demonstrated benefits in games such as Unreal.[55] However, major changes to the Microsoft Windows operating system, by then the market leader, made many older DOS-based games unplayable on Windows NT, and later, Windows XP (without using an emulator, such as DOSBox).[56][57] The faster graphics accelerators and improving CPU technology resulted in increasing levels of realism in computer games. During this time, the improvements introduced with products such as ATI's Radeon R300 and NVidia's GeForce 6 Series have allowed developers to increase the complexity of modern game engines. PC gaming currently tends strongly toward improvements in 3D graphics.[58] Unlike the generally accepted push for improved graphical performance, the use of physics engines in computer games has become a matter of debate since announcement and 2005 release of the nVidia PhysX PPU, ostensibly competing with middleware such as the Havok physics engine. Issues such as difficulty in ensuring consistent experiences for all players,[59] and the uncertain benefit of first generation PhysX cards in games such as Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter and City of Villains, prompted arguments over the value of such technology.[60][61] Similarly, many game publishers began to experiment with new forms of marketing. Chief among these alternative strategies is episodic gaming, an adaptation of the older concept of expansion packs, in which game content is provided in smaller quantities but for a proportionally lower price. Titles such as Half-Life 2: Episode One took advantage of the idea, with mixed results rising from concerns for the amount of content provided for the price." (wikipedia.org) "Godzilla (/ɡɒdˈzɪlə/ god-ZIL-ə; Japanese: ゴジラ, romanized: Gojira, pronounced [ɡoꜜʑiɾa] (listen)) is a fictional monster, or kaiju, that debuted in the eponymous 1954 film, directed and co-written by Ishirō Honda.[2] The character has since become an international pop culture icon, appearing in various media: 33 Japanese films produced by Toho Co., Ltd., five American films and numerous video games, novels, comic books and television shows. Godzilla has been dubbed the "King of the Monsters", an epithet first used in Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956), the American localization of the 1954 film. Godzilla is a prehistoric reptilian monster awakened and empowered by nuclear radiation. With the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Lucky Dragon 5 incident still fresh in the Japanese consciousness,[30] Godzilla was conceived as a metaphor for nuclear weapons.[31] Others have suggested that Godzilla is a metaphor for the United States, a giant beast woken from its slumber which then takes terrible vengeance on Japan.[32][33][34] As the film series expanded, some stories took on less serious undertones, portraying Godzilla as an antihero, or a lesser threat who defends humanity. Later films address disparate themes and commentary including Japan's apathy and neglect of its imperial past,[35] natural disasters, and the human condition.[36] Godzilla has been featured alongside many supporting characters. It has faced human opponents such as the JSDF, or other monsters, including King Ghidorah, Mechagodzilla and Gigan. Godzilla sometimes has allies, such as Rodan, Mothra and Anguirus, and offspring, such as Minilla and Godzilla Junior. Godzilla has also fought characters from other franchises in crossover media, such as King Kong, as well as various Marvel Comics characters, including S.H.I.E.L.D.,[37] the Fantastic Four[38] and the Avengers.[39] Development Naming Although the process of creating Godzilla's first film is comprehensively recorded, exactly how its name came to be remains unintelligible.[40] The most widely accepted report of its origin is that producer Tomoyuki Tanaka named the monster after a sturdy Toho worker was jokingly dubbed "Gojira" (ゴジラ), a portmanteau of the Japanese words gorira (ゴリラ, "gorilla") and kujira (鯨, "whale").[41][42] The account has been acknowledged by Toho themselves,[41] director Ishirō Honda,[41][43] producer Tanaka,[44][43] special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya,[43] producer Ichirō Satō [ja],[45] and production head Iwao Mori [ja],[44] with the Satō and Mori recalling that the employee was named Shirō Amikura.[45][44] However, Honda's widow Kimi dismissed the employee-name story as a tall tale in a 1998 BBC documentary on Godzilla, believing that Honda, Tanaka, and Tsuburaya gave "considerable thought" to the name of the monster, stating, "the backstage boys at Toho loved to joke around with tall stories, but I don't believe that one".[41] Honda's longtime assistant director Kōji Kajita [ja] added: "Those of us who were closest to them don't even know how and why they came up with Gojira."[46] Toho later translated the monster's Japanese name as "Godzilla" for overseas distribution.[47][46] The first recorded foreign usage of "Godzilla" was printed in the Hawaii Tribune-Herald on November 20, 1955.[48] During the development of the American version of Godzilla Raids Again (1955), Godzilla's name was changed to "Gigantis" by producer Paul Schreibman, who wanted to create a character distinct from Godzilla.[49] Characterization Within the context of the Japanese films, Godzilla's exact origins vary, but it is generally depicted as an enormous, violent, prehistoric sea monster awakened and empowered by nuclear radiation.[50] Although the specific details of Godzilla's appearance have varied slightly over the years, the overall impression has remained consistent.[51] Inspired by the fictional Rhedosaurus created by animator Ray Harryhausen for the film The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms,[52] Godzilla's character design was conceived as that of an amphibious reptilian monster based around the loose concept of a dinosaur[53] with an erect standing posture, scaly skin, an anthropomorphic torso with muscular arms, lobed bony plates along its back and tail, and a furrowed brow.[54] Art director Akira Watanabe combined attributes of a Tyrannosaurus, an Iguanodon, a Stegosaurus and an alligator[55] to form a sort of blended chimera, inspired by illustrations from an issue of Life magazine.[56] To emphasise the monster's relationship with the atomic bomb, its skin texture was inspired by the keloid scars seen on the survivors of Hiroshima.[57] The basic design has a reptilian visage, a robust build, an upright posture, a long tail and three rows of serrated plates along the back. In the original film, the plates were added for purely aesthetic purposes, in order to further differentiate Godzilla from any other living or extinct creature. Godzilla is sometimes depicted as green in comics, cartoons and movie posters, but the costumes used in the movies were usually painted charcoal grey with bone-white dorsal plates up until the film Godzilla 2000: Millennium.[58] In the original Japanese films, Godzilla and all the other monsters are referred to with gender-neutral pronouns equivalent to "it",[59] while in the English dubbed versions, Godzilla is explicitly described as a male. In his book, Godzilla co-creator Tomoyuki Tanaka suggested that the monster was probably male.[60] In the 1998 film Godzilla, the monster is referred to as a male and is depicted laying eggs through parthenogenesis.[61][62] In the Legendary Godzilla films, Godzilla is referred to as a male.[63][64] Godzilla's allegiance and motivations have changed from film to film to suit the needs of the story. Although Godzilla does not like humans,[65] it will fight alongside humanity against common threats. However, it makes no special effort to protect human life or property[66] and will turn against its human allies on a whim. It is not motivated to attack by predatory instinct: it does not eat people[67] and instead sustains itself on nuclear radiation[68] and an omnivorous diet.[69] When inquired if Godzilla was "good or bad", producer Shōgo Tomiyama likened it to a Shinto "God of Destruction" which lacks moral agency and cannot be held to human standards of good and evil. "He totally destroys everything and then there is a rebirth. Something new and fresh can begin."[67] Abilities Godzilla's atomic heat beam, as shown in Godzilla (1954) Godzilla battles King Kong in King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962). This film attracted the highest Japanese box office attendance figures in the entire Godzilla series to date.[70] Godzilla's signature weapon is its "atomic heat beam" (also known as "atomic breath"[71]), nuclear energy that it generates inside of its body, uses electromagnetic force to concentrate it into a laser-like hypersonic projectile and unleashes it from its jaws in the form of a blue or red radioactive beam.[72] Toho's special effects department has used various techniques to render the beam, from physical gas-powered flames[73] to hand-drawn or computer-generated fire. Godzilla is shown to possess immense physical strength and muscularity. Haruo Nakajima, the actor who played Godzilla in the original films, was a black belt in judo and used his expertise to choreograph the battle sequences.[74] Godzilla is amphibious: it has a preference for traversing Earth's hydrosphere when in hibernation or migration, can breathe underwater[72] and is described in the original film by the character Dr. Yamane as a transitional form between a marine and a terrestrial reptile. Godzilla is shown to have great vitality: it is immune to conventional weaponry thanks to its rugged hide and ability to regenerate,[75] and as a result of surviving a nuclear explosion, it cannot be destroyed by anything less powerful. One incarnation possesses an electromagnetic pulse-producing organ in its body which generates an asymmetrical permeable shield, making it impervious to all damage except for a short period when the organ recycles.[76] Various films, non-canonical television shows, comics and games have depicted Godzilla with additional powers, such as an atomic pulse,[77] magnetism,[78] precognition,[79] fireballs,[80] convert electromagnetic energy into intensive body heat,[81] converting shed blood into temporary tentacle limbs,[82] an electric bite,[83] superhuman speed,[84] laser beams emitted from its eyes[85] and even flight.[86] Roar Godzilla has a distinctive disyllabic roar (transcribed in several comics as Skreeeonk!),[87][88] which was created by composer Akira Ifukube, who produced the sound by rubbing a pine tar-resin-coated glove along the string of a contrabass and then slowing down the playback.[89] In the American version of Godzilla Raids Again (1955) titled Gigantis the Fire Monster (1959), Godzilla's roar was mostly substituted with that of the monster Anguirus.[49] From The Return of Godzilla (1984) to Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991), Godzilla was given a deeper and more threatening-sounding roar than in previous films, though this change was reverted from Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992) onward.[90] For the 2014 American film, sound editors Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl refused to disclose the source of the sounds used for their Godzilla's roar.[89] Aadahl described the two syllables of the roar as representing two different emotional reactions, with the first expressing fury and the second conveying the character's soul.[91] Size Teizō Toshimitsu sculpting a prototype for Godzilla's design Godzilla's size is inconsistent, changing from film to film and even from scene to scene for the sake of artistic license.[67] The miniature sets and costumes were typically built at a 1⁄25–1⁄50 scale[92] and filmed at 240 frames per second to create the illusion of great size.[93] In the original 1954 film, Godzilla was scaled to be 50 m (164 ft) tall.[94] This was done so Godzilla could just peer over the largest buildings in Tokyo at the time.[6] In the 1956 American version, Godzilla is estimated to be 121.9 m (400 ft) tall, because producer Joseph E. Levine felt that 50 m did not sound "powerful enough".[95] As the series progressed, Toho would rescale the character, eventually making Godzilla as tall as 100 m (328 ft).[96] This was done so that it would not be dwarfed by the newer, bigger buildings in Tokyo's skyline, such as the 243-meter-tall (797 ft) Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building which Godzilla destroyed in the film Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991). Supplementary information, such as character profiles, would also depict Godzilla as weighing between 20,000 and 60,000 metric tons (22,050 and 66,140 short tons).[97] In the American film Godzilla (2014) from Legendary Pictures, Godzilla was scaled to be 108.2 m (355 ft) and weighing 90,000 short tons (81,650 metric tons), making it the largest film version at that time.[98] Director Gareth Edwards wanted Godzilla "to be so big as to be seen from anywhere in the city, but not too big that he couldn't be obscured".[99] For Shin Godzilla (2016), Godzilla was made even taller than the Legendary version, at 118.5 m (389 ft).[100][101] In Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters (2017), Godzilla's height was increased further still to 300 m (984 ft).[102] In Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) and Godzilla vs. Kong (2020), Godzilla's height was increased to 119.8 m (393 ft) from the 2014 incarnation.[103][104] Special effects Suit fitting on the set of Godzilla Raids Again (1955), with Haruo Nakajima portraying Godzilla on the left Godzilla's appearance has traditionally been portrayed in the films by an actor wearing a latex costume, though the character has also been rendered in animatronic, stop-motion and computer-generated form.[105][106] Taking inspiration from King Kong, special effects artist Eiji Tsuburaya had initially wanted Godzilla to be portrayed via stop-motion, but prohibitive deadlines and a lack of experienced animators in Japan at the time made suitmation more practical. The first suit, weighing in excess of 100 kg (220 lb), consisted of a body cavity made of thin wires and bamboo wrapped in chicken wire for support and covered in fabric and cushions, which were then coated in latex. It was held together by small hooks on the back, though subsequent Godzilla suits incorporated a zipper.[58] Prior to 1984, most Godzilla suits were made from scratch, thus resulting in slight design changes in each film appearance.[107] The most notable changes from 1962 to 1975 were the reduction in Godzilla's number of toes and the removal of the character's external ears and prominent fangs, features which would all later be reincorporated in the Godzilla designs from The Return of Godzilla (1984) onward.[108] The most consistent Godzilla design was maintained from Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989) to Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995), when the suit was given a cat-like face and double rows of teeth.[109] Several suit actors had difficulties in performing as Godzilla due to the suits' weight, lack of ventilation and diminished visibility.[58] Haruo Nakajima, who portrayed Godzilla from 1954 to 1972, said the materials used to make the 1954 suit (rubber, plastic, cotton, and latex) were hard to find after World War II. The suit weighed 100 kilograms after its completion and required two men to help Nakajima put it on. When he first put it on, he sweated so heavily that his shirt was soaked within seconds.[110] Kenpachiro Satsuma in particular, who portrayed Godzilla from 1984 to 1995, described how the Godzilla suits he wore were even heavier and hotter than their predecessors because of the incorporation of animatronics.[111] Satsuma himself suffered numerous medical issues during his tenure, including oxygen deprivation, near-drowning, concussions, electric shocks and lacerations to the legs from the suits' steel wire reinforcements wearing through the rubber padding.[112] The ventilation problem was partially solved in the suit used in 1994's Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla, which was the first to include an air duct that allowed suit actors to last longer during performances.[113] In The Return of Godzilla (1984), some scenes made use of a 16-foot high robotic Godzilla (dubbed the "Cybot Godzilla") for use in close-up shots of the creature's head. The Cybot Godzilla consisted of a hydraulically-powered mechanical endoskeleton covered in urethane skin containing 3,000 computer operated parts which permitted it to tilt its head and move its lips and arms.[114] In Godzilla (1998), special effects artist Patrick Tatopoulos was instructed to redesign Godzilla as an incredibly fast runner.[115] At one point, it was planned to use motion capture from a human to create the movements of the computer-generated Godzilla, but it was said to have ended up looking too much like a man in a suit.[116] Tatopoulos subsequently reimagined the creature as a lean, digitigrade bipedal, iguana-like creature that stood with its back and tail parallel to the ground, rendered via CGI.[117] Several scenes had the monster portrayed by stuntmen in suits. The suits were similar to those used in the Toho films, with the actors' heads being located in the monster's neck region and the facial movements controlled via animatronics. However, because of the creature's horizontal posture, the stuntmen had to wear metal leg extenders, which allowed them to stand two meters (six feet) off the ground with their feet bent forward. The film's special effects crew also built a 1⁄6 scale animatronic Godzilla for close-up scenes, whose size outmatched that of Stan Winston's T. rex in Jurassic Park.[118] Kurt Carley performed the suitmation sequences for the adult Godzilla.[16] In Godzilla (2014), the character was portrayed entirely via CGI. Godzilla's design in the reboot was intended to stay true to that of the original series, though the film's special effects team strove to make the monster "more dynamic than a guy in a big rubber suit."[119] To create a CG version of Godzilla, the Moving Picture Company (MPC) studied various animals such as bears, Komodo dragons, lizards, lions and wolves, which helped the visual effects artists visualize Godzilla's body structure, like that of its underlying bone, fat and muscle structure, as well as the thickness and texture of its scales.[120] Motion capture was also used for some of Godzilla's movements. T. J. Storm provided the performance capture for Godzilla by wearing sensors in front of a green screen.[18] Storm reprised the role of Godzilla in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, portraying the character through performance capture.[20] In Shin Godzilla, a majority of the character was portrayed via CGI, with Mansai Nomura portraying Godzilla through motion capture.[15] Appearances Main article: Godzilla (franchise) Cultural impact Main article: Godzilla in popular culture Godzilla's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Godzilla is one of the most recognizable symbols of Japanese popular culture worldwide[121][122] and remains an important facet of Japanese films, embodying the kaiju subset of the tokusatsu genre. Godzilla's vaguely humanoid appearance and strained, lumbering movements endeared it to Japanese audiences, who could relate to Godzilla as a sympathetic character, despite its wrathful nature.[123] Audiences respond positively to the character because it acts out of rage and self-preservation and shows where science and technology can go wrong.[124] In 1967, the Keukdong Entertainment Company of South Korea, with production assistance from Toei Company, produced Yongary, Monster from the Deep, a reptilian monster who invades South Korea to consume oil. The film and character has often been branded as an imitation of Godzilla.[125][126] Godzilla has been considered a filmographic metaphor for the United States, as well as an allegory of nuclear weapons in general. The earlier Godzilla films, especially the original, portrayed Godzilla as a frightening nuclear-spawned monster. Godzilla represented the fears that many Japanese held about the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the possibility of recurrence.[127] As the series progressed, so did Godzilla, changing into a less destructive and more heroic character.[128][129] Ghidorah (1964) was the turning point in Godzilla's transformation from villain to hero, by pitting him against a greater threat to humanity, King Ghidorah.[130] Godzilla has since been viewed as an anti-hero.[128] Roger Ebert cites Godzilla as a notable example of a villain-turned-hero, along with King Kong, Jaws (James Bond), the Terminator and John Rambo.[131] Godzilla is considered "the original radioactive superhero" due to his accidental radioactive origin story predating Spider-Man (1962 debut),[128] though Godzilla did not become a hero until Ghidorah in 1964.[130] By the 1970s, Godzilla came to be viewed as a superhero, with the magazine King of the Monsters in 1977 describing Godzilla as "Superhero of the '70s." Godzilla had surpassed Superman and Batman to become "the most universally popular superhero of 1977" according to Donald F. Glut.[132] Godzilla was also voted the most popular movie monster in The Monster Times poll in 1973, beating Count Dracula, King Kong, the Wolf Man, the Mummy, the Creature from the Black Lagoon and the Frankenstein Monster.[133] Paleontologist Kenneth Carpenter's skeletal diagram of Godzilla in a modern dinosaur posture In 1996, Godzilla received the MTV Lifetime Achievement Award,[134] as well as being given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2004 to celebrate the premiere of the character's 50th anniversary film, Godzilla: Final Wars.[135] Godzilla's pop-cultural impact has led to the creation of numerous parodies and tributes, as seen in media such as Bambi Meets Godzilla, which was ranked as one of the "50 greatest cartoons",[136] two episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000[137] and the song "Godzilla" by Blue Öyster Cult.[138] Godzilla has also been used in advertisements, such as in a commercial for Nike, where Godzilla lost an oversized one-on-one game of basketball to a giant version of NBA player Charles Barkley.[139] The commercial was subsequently adapted into a comic book illustrated by Jeff Butler.[140] Godzilla has also appeared in a commercial for Snickers candy bars, which served as an indirect promo for the 2014 film. Godzilla's success inspired the creation of numerous other monster characters, such as Gamera,[141][142] Reptilicus of Denmark,[143] Yonggary of South Korea,[125] Pulgasari of North Korea,[144] Gorgo of the United Kingdom[145] and the Cloverfield monster of the United States.[146] Dakosaurus is an extinct sea crocodile of the Jurassic Period, which researchers informally nicknamed "Godzilla".[147] Paleontologists have written tongue-in-cheek speculative articles about Godzilla's biology, with Kenneth Carpenter tentatively classifying it as a ceratosaur based on its skull shape, four-fingered hands and dorsal scutes and paleontologist Darren Naish expressing skepticism, while commenting on Godzilla's unusual morphology.[148] Godzilla's ubiquity in pop-culture has led to the mistaken assumption that the character is in the public domain, resulting in litigation by Toho to protect their corporate asset from becoming a generic trademark. In April 2008, Subway depicted a giant monster in a commercial for their Five Dollar Footlongs sandwich promotion. Toho filed a lawsuit against Subway for using the character without permission, demanding $150,000 in compensation.[149] In February 2011, Toho sued Honda for depicting a fire-breathing monster in a commercial for the Honda Odyssey. The monster was never mentioned by name, being seen briefly on a video screen inside the minivan.[150] The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society christened a vessel the MV Gojira. Its purpose is to target and harass Japanese whalers in defense of whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. The MV Gojira was renamed the MV Brigitte Bardot in May 2011, due to legal pressure from Toho.[151] Gojira is the name of a French death metal band, formerly known as Godzilla; legal problems forced the band to change their name.[152] In May 2015, Toho launched a lawsuit against Voltage Pictures over a planned picture starring Anne Hathaway. Promotional material released at the Cannes Film Festival used images of Godzilla.[153] Steven Spielberg cited Godzilla as an inspiration for Jurassic Park (1993), specifically Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956), which he grew up watching.[154] Spielberg described Godzilla as "the most masterful of all the dinosaur movies because it made you believe it was really happening."[155] Godzilla also influenced the Spielberg film Jaws (1975).[156][157] Godzilla has also been cited as an inspiration by filmmakers Martin Scorsese and Tim Burton.[158] A carnivorous dinosaur from the triassic period was named Gojirasaurus in 1997.[159] The main-belt asteroid 101781 Gojira, discovered by American astronomer Roy Tucker at the Goodricke-Pigott Observatory in 1999, was named in honor of the creature.[160] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 11 July 2018 (M.P.C. 110635).[161] The largest megamullion, located 600 kilometres to the south-east of Okinotorishima, the southernmost Japanese island, is named the Godzilla Megamullion. The Japan Coast Guard played a role in name, reaching an agreement with Toho. Toho's Chief Godzilla officer Keiji Ota stated that "I am truly honored that (the megamullion) bears Godzilla's name, the Earth's most powerful monster."[162] Cultural ambassador In April 2015, the Shinjuku ward of Tokyo named Godzilla a special resident and official tourism ambassador to encourage tourism.[163][164] During an unveiling of a giant Godzilla bust at Toho headquarters, Shinjuku mayor Kenichi Yoshizumi stated "Godzilla is a character that is the pride of Japan." The mayor extended a residency certificate to an actor in a rubber suit representing Godzilla, but as the suit's hands were not designed for grasping, it was accepted on Godzilla's behalf by a Toho executive. Reporters noted that Shinjuku ward has been flattened by Godzilla in three Toho movies." (wikipedia.org "PlayStation (Japanese: プレイステーション, Hepburn: Pureisutēshon, officially abbreviated as PS) is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a division of Sony; the first PlayStation console was released in Japan in December 1994, and worldwide the following year.[1] The original console in the series was the first console of any type to ship over 100 million units, doing so in under a decade.[2] Its successor, the PlayStation 2, was released in 2000; it is the best-selling home console to date, having reached over 155 million units sold by the end of 2012.[3] Sony's next console, the PlayStation 3, was released in 2006, selling over 87.4 million units by March 2017.[4] Sony's next console, the PlayStation 4, was released in 2013, selling a million units within a day, becoming the fastest selling console in history.[5] The latest console in the series, the PlayStation 5, was released in 2020[6] and sold 10 million units in its first 249 days, unseating its predecessor as the fastest-selling PlayStation console to-date.[7] The first handheld console in the series, the PlayStation Portable (PSP), sold a total of 80 million units worldwide by November 2013.[8] Its successor, the PlayStation Vita (PSVita), which launched in Japan in December 2011 and in most other major territories in February 2012, sold over four million units by January 2013.[9] PlayStation TV is a microconsole and a non-portable variant of the PlayStation Vita handheld game console.[10] Other hardware released as part of the PlayStation series includes the PSX, a digital video recorder which was integrated with the PlayStation and PlayStation 2, though it was short-lived due to its high price and was never released outside Japan, as well as a Bravia television set which has an integrated PlayStation 2. The main series of controllers utilized by the PlayStation series is the DualShock, which is a line of vibration-feedback gamepads, having sold 28 million units by June 2008.[11] The PlayStation Network is an online service with about 110 million registered users[12] (as of June 2013) and over 103 million active users monthly.[13] (as of December 2019) It comprises an online virtual market, the PlayStation Store, which allows the purchase and download of games and various forms of multimedia, a subscription-based online service known as PlayStation Plus and a social gaming networking service called PlayStation Home, which had over 41 million users worldwide at the time of its closure in March 2015.[14] PlayStation Mobile (formerly PlayStation Suite) is a software framework that provides PlayStation content on mobile devices. Version 1.xx supports both PlayStation Vita, PlayStation TV and certain devices that run the Android operating system, whereas version 2.00 released in 2014 only targeted PlayStation Vita and PlayStation TV.[15] Content set to be released under the framework consist of only original PlayStation games currently.[16] Seventh generation PlayStation products also use the XrossMediaBar, which is an Technology & Engineering Emmy Award–winning graphical user interface.[17] A touch screen-based user interface called LiveArea was launched for the PlayStation Vita, which integrates social networking elements into the interface. Additionally, the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 consoles also featured support for Linux-based operating systems; Linux for PlayStation 2 and OtherOS respectively, though this has since been discontinued. The series has also been known for its numerous marketing campaigns, the latest of which being the "Greatness Awaits" and eventually, "Play Has No Limits" commercials in the United States. The series also has a strong line-up of first-party games due to PlayStation Studios, a group of many studios owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment that exclusively developed them for PlayStation consoles. In addition, the series features various budget re-releases of games by Sony with different names for each region; these include the Greatest Hits, Platinum, Essentials, and The Best selection of games. History Origins Original PlayStation logo (1994) PlayStation was the brainchild of Ken Kutaragi, a Sony executive who managed one of the company's hardware engineering divisions and was later dubbed "The Father of the PlayStation".[18][19] Until 1991, Sony had little direct involvement with the video game industry. The company supplied components for other consoles, such as the sound chip for the Super Famicom from Nintendo, and operated a video game studio, Sony Imagesoft.[20] As part of a joint project between Nintendo and Sony that began as early as 1988, the two companies worked to create a CD-ROM version of the Super Famicom,[21] though Nintendo denied the existence of the Sony deal as late as March 1991.[22] At the Consumer Electronics Show in June 1991, Sony revealed a Super Famicom with a built-in CD-ROM drive that incorporated Green Book technology or CD-i, called "Play Station" (also known as SNES-CD). However, a day after the announcement at CES, Nintendo announced that it would be breaking its partnership with Sony, opting to go with Philips instead but using the same technology.[23] The deal was broken by Nintendo after they were unable to come to an agreement on how revenue would be split between the two companies.[23] The breaking of the partnership infuriated Sony President Norio Ohga, who responded by appointing Kutaragi with the responsibility of developing the PlayStation project to rival Nintendo.[23] The sole remaining prototype of Sony's original "PlayStation", a Super NES with a built-in CD-ROM drive At that time, negotiations were still on-going between Nintendo and Sony, with Nintendo offering Sony a "non-gaming role" regarding their new partnership with Philips. This proposal was swiftly rejected by Kutaragi who was facing increasing criticism over his work with regard to entering the video game industry from within Sony. Negotiations officially ended in May 1992 and in order to decide the fate of the PlayStation project, a meeting was held in June 1992, consisting of Sony President Ohga, PlayStation Head Kutaragi and several senior members of Sony's board. At the meeting, Kutaragi unveiled a proprietary CD-ROM-based system he had been working on which involved playing video games with 3D graphics to the board. Eventually, Sony President Ohga decided to retain the project after being reminded by Kutaragi of the humiliation he suffered from Nintendo. Nevertheless, due to strong opposition from a majority present at the meeting as well as widespread internal opposition to the project by the older generation of Sony executives, Kutaragi and his team had to be shifted from Sony's headquarters to Sony Music, a completely separate financial entity owned by Sony, so as to retain the project and maintain relationships with Philips for the MMCD development project (which helped lead to the creation of the DVD).[23] According to SCE's producer Ryoji Akagawa and chairman Shigeo Maruyama, there was uncertainty over whether the console should primarily focus on 2D sprite graphics or 3D polygon graphics. Eventually, after witnessing the success of Sega's Virtua Fighter in Japanese arcades, that Sony realized "the direction of the PlayStation became instantly clear" and 3D polygon graphics became the console's primary focus.[24] The PlayStation logo was designed by Manabu Sakamoto. He wanted the logo to capture the 3D support of the console, but instead of just adding apparent depth to the letters "P" and "S", he created an optical illusion that suggested the letters in depth of space. Sakamoto also stuck with four bright principal colors, red, yellow, green, and blue, only having to tune the green color for better harmony across the logo. Sakamoto also designed the black and white logo based on the same design, reserved for times where colors could not be used.[25] Formation of Sony Computer Entertainment At Sony Music Entertainment, Kutaragi worked closely with Shigeo Maruyama, the CEO of Sony Music, and with Akira Sato to form Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) on November 16, 1993.[26] A building block of SCEI was its initial partnership with Sony Music which helped SCEI attract creative talent to the company as well as assist SCEI in manufacturing, marketing and producing discs, something that Sony Music had been doing with Music Discs. The final two key members of SCEI were Terry Tokunaka, the President of SCEI from Sony's headquarters, and Olaf Olafsson. Olafsson was CEO and president of New York-based Sony Interactive Entertainment[27] which was the parent company for the 1994-founded Sony Computer Entertainment of America (SCEA). The PlayStation project, SCEI's first official project, was finally given the green light by Sony executives in 1993 after a few years of development. Also in 1993, Phil Harrison, who later became President of SCE Worldwide Studios, was recruited into SCEI to attract developers and publishers to produce games for their new PlayStation platform.[23] Computer Gaming World in March 1994 reported a rumor that the "Sony PS-X" would be released in Japan "before the end of this year and will retail for less than $400".[28] After a demonstration of Sony's distribution plan as well as tech demos of its new console to game publishers and developers in a hotel in Tokyo in 1994, numerous developers began to approach PlayStation. Two of whom later became major partners were Electronic Arts in the West and Namco in Japan. One of the factors which attracted developers to the platform was the use of a 3D-capable, CD-ROM-based console which was much cheaper and easier to manufacture for in comparison to Nintendo's rival console, which used cartridge systems. The project eventually hit Japanese stores in December 1994 and gained massive sales due to its lower price point than its competitor, the Sega Saturn. The popularity of the console spread after its release worldwide in North America and Europe." (wikipedia.org) "The 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, also referred to as simply 3DO, is a home video game console developed by The 3DO Company. Conceived by entrepreneur and Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins, the 3DO was not a console manufactured by the company itself, but a set of specifications, originally designed by Dave Needle and Robert J. Mical of New Technologies Group, that could be licensed by third parties. Panasonic produced the first models in 1993, and further renditions of the hardware were released afterwards by GoldStar, Sanyo, Creative Labs, and Samsung Electronics. Despite having a highly promoted launch (including being named Time magazine's "1993 Product of the Year"), the console received mixed to negative reviews, and an oversaturated console market prevented the system from achieving success comparable to competing consoles from Sega and Sony, rendering its discontinuation by 1996. In 1997, The 3DO Company sold its hardware business to Samsung.[8] History The 3DO Interactive Multiplayer was originally conceived by The 3DO Company, founded in September 12, 1991 by Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins. The company's objective was to create a next-generation, CD-based video game/entertainment standard which would be manufactured by various partners and licensees; 3DO would collect a royalty on each console sold and on each game manufactured. To game publishers, the low US$3 royalty rate per game was a better deal than the higher royalties paid to Nintendo and Sega when making games for their consoles. The 3DO hardware itself was designed by Dave Needle and R. J. Mical (designers of the Amiga and Atari Lynx), starting from an outline on a restaurant napkin in 1989.[9] Trip Hawkins was a long-time acquaintance of Needle and Mical and found that their design very closely fit his philosophy for architecture and approach, so he decided that: "Rather than me start a brand new team and starting from scratch it just made a lot of sense to ... join forces with them and shape what they were doing into what I wanted it to be."[9] The 3DO Company lacked the resources to manufacture consoles, and instead licensed the hardware to other companies for manufacturing. Trip Hawkins recounted that they approached every electronics manufacturer, but that their chief targets were Sony and Panasonic, the two largest consumer electronics companies in the world.[9] However, Sony had already begun development on their own console, the PlayStation, and ultimately decided to continue work on it rather than sign with 3DO.[9] According to former Sega CEO Tom Kalinske The 3DO Company was engaged in very serious talks for Sega to become involved with the 3DO. However, it was passed on by Sega due to concerns over cost.[10] Panasonic launched the 3DO with its FZ-1 model in 1993, though Goldstar and Sanyo would later manufacture the 3DO as well. Companies who obtained the hardware license but never actually sold 3DO units include Samsung,[11] Toshiba,[12] and AT&T, who went so far as to build prototype AT&T 3DO units and display them at the January 1994 Consumer Electronics Show.[13] Licensing to independent manufacturers made the system extremely expensive. The manufacturers had to make a profit on the hardware itself, whereas most major game console manufacturers, such as Sega and Sony, sold their systems at a loss, with expectations of making up for the loss with software sales. The 3DO was priced at US$699,[14][15] far above competing game systems and aimed at high-end users and early adopters. Hawkins has argued that 3DO was launched at $599, and not "higher myths that are often reported".[16] In a later interview, Hawkins clarified that while the suggested retail price was $699, not all retailers sold the system at that price.[9] Goldstar, Sanyo, and Panasonic's later models were less expensive to manufacture than the FZ-1 and were sold for considerably lower prices. For example, the Goldstar model launched at $399.[4] In addition, after six months on the market, the price of the FZ-1 had dropped to $499,[17][18] leading some to contend that the 3DO's cost was not as big a factor in its market failure as is usually claimed.[9] Hawkins' belief was that the 3DO system could become a dominant standard in a similar way to that achieved by the VHS video cassette format, with several companies being able to promote the standard effectively against individual competitors with their own technologies, such as Sony and Betamax, in the context of VHS. It was also believed that companies would be able to more effectively compete by being able to leverage a common standard, as opposed to having to attract developers to individual formats, with Hawkins noting that this would be "tough for Atari and Sony". Indeed, Hawkins believed that the failure of NEC to establish its TurboGrafx system, and yet being "much bigger than Sony", illustrated the difficulties faced by new entrants to the console market and thought that Sony, in following the business model of Sega and Nintendo, "would have had a better chance if it had partnered with some of the others". Meanwhile, other products were not regarded as competitive threats: the Atari Jaguar was perceived as "primitive" and "slightly better than a 16-bit system", and the Philips CD-i was regarded as "really obsolete by today's standards". Both 3DO and Philips, seeking to pioneer the broader concept of interactive entertainment, aimed to sell in the order of one million units during 1994 and into 1995.[19] Hawkins claimed that the console was HDTV-capable, and that the company could use its technology for a set-top box.[20] It was believed the platform would appeal to cable companies seeking to provide digital interactive services, with broadcasts being accompanied by digital information, eventually leading to the development of video-on-demand services on what was described as a "client-server interactive network", with an interactive networking trial having been announced in collaboration with US West in Omaha, Nebraska for the autumn of 1994.[19] Computer Gaming World reported in January 1994 that 3DO "is poised for an avalanche of software support to appear in the next 12 months", unlike the Atari Jaguar and Pioneer LaserActive. The magazine predicted that "If 3DO's licensees can get enough machines and software out in the market, this could very well become the interactive gamer's entry level machine" and possibly "the ideal plug and play solution for those of us who are tired of playing circuit board roulette with our personal computers".[21] Electronic Arts promoted the console in two-page advertisements, describing it as a "technological leap" and promising "twenty new titles ... over the next twelve months".[22] The launch of the platform in October 1993 received a great deal of attention in the press as part of the "multimedia wave" in the computer world at the time. Return Fire, Road Rash, FIFA International Soccer, and Jurassic Park Interactive had been slated for launch releases but were pushed to mid-1994 due to the developers' struggles with the then-cutting-edge hardware.[9] Moreover, the 3DO Company made continued updates to the console hardware almost up to the system's release, which resulted in a number of third-party titles missing the launch date, in some cases by less than a month, because the developers weren't left enough time to fully test them on the finalized hardware.[23] The only 3DO software available at launch was the third-party game Crash 'n Burn.[9][24] Panasonic also failed to manufacture an ample supply of the console in time for launch day, and as a result most retail stores only received one or two units.[1] By mid-November, the 3DO had sold 30,000 units.[25] The system was released in Japan in March 1994 with an initial lineup of six games. The Japanese launch was moderately successful, with 70,000 units shipping to 10,000 stores.[12] However, sales soon dropped and by 1995 the system was known in Japan as a host for pornographic releases.[26] The 3DO's claim to the title of most advanced console on the market was lost with the 1994 Japanese launches of the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn. The 3DO Company responded by emphasizing their console's large existing software library, lower price (both the Panasonic and Goldstar models were $299 by this time), and promised successor: the M2.[27] To assure consumers that the 3DO would still be supported, the M2 was initially announced as an add-on for the 3DO.[28] It was later revealed that the M2 would be an entirely separate console, albeit one with 3DO backward compatibility. Eventually the M2 project was cancelled. Unlike Panasonic, Goldstar initially produced only 3DO hardware, not software. This made it difficult to manage competitive price drops, and when the price of the Goldstar 3DO dropped to $199 in December 1995, the company took a loss of more than $100 on each sale.[29] Goldstar tried switching to the usual industry model of selling hardware at a loss and profiting on software, but though a handful of Goldstar games were published for the 3DO, Goldstar's software development operation arrived too late to allow them to turn a profit on the 3DO. This lack of a profitable business model, combined with Panasonic acquiring exclusive rights to the M2 technology, were cited as the two chief reasons for Goldstar dropping support for the 3DO in early 1996.[29] During the second quarter of 1996 several of the 3DO's most loyal software supporters, including the software division of The 3DO Company themselves, announced they were no longer making games for the system, leaving Panasonic as the only company supporting active software development for the 3DO.[30] The 3DO system was eventually discontinued towards the end of 1996, with a complete shutdown of all internal hardware development and divestment of the M2 technology. The 3DO Company restructured themselves around this same time, selling off their hardware division to become a multi-platform company focused on software development and online gaming.[31] After selling the Opera hardware to Samsung in 1997,[8] the hardware was revived in South Korea for another 2 years then discontinued again at some point in late 1998 or early 1999. The amount of systems produced after the Samsung buyout is unknown. The initial high price is considered to be one of the many issues that led to the 3DO's failure, along with lack of significant funding that larger companies such as Sony took advantage of.[4] In an interview shortly after The 3DO Company dropped support for the system, Trip Hawkins attributed its failure to the model of licensing all hardware manufacturing and software to third parties. He reasoned that for a console to be a success, it needed a single strong company to take the lead in marketing, hardware, and software, and pointed out that it was essentially a lack of coordination between The 3DO Company, Panasonic, and the 3DO's software developers which had led to the console launching with only one game ready." (wikipedia.org) "Optical disc packaging is the packaging that accompanies CDs, DVDs, and other formats of optical discs. Most packaging is rigid or semi-rigid and designed to protect the media from scratches and other types of exposure damage.... A jewel CD case is a compact disc case that has been used since the compact disc was first released in 1982. It is a three-piece plastic case, measuring 142 by 125 by 10 millimetres (5.59 in × 4.92 in × 0.39 in), a volume of 177.5 cubic centimetres (10.83 cu in), which usually contains a compact disc along with the liner notes and a back card. Two opposing transparent halves are hinged together to form the casing, the back half holding a media tray that grips the disc by its hole. All three parts are made of injection-moulded polystyrene.[1] The front lid contains two, four, or six tabs to keep any liner notes in place. The liner notes typically will be a 120 by 120 millimetres (4.7 in × 4.7 in) booklet, or a single 242 by 120 millimetres (9.5 in × 4.7 in) leaf folded in half. In addition, there is usually a back card, 150 by 118 millimetres (5.9 in × 4.6 in), underneath the media tray and visible through the clear back, often listing the track names, studio, copyright data and other information. The back card is folded into a flattened "U" shape, with the sides being visible along the ends (often referred to as the spine) of the case. The ends usually have the name of the release and the artist, and often label or catalogue information printed on them, and are designed to be visible when the case is stored vertically, 'book-style', on shelves.[citation needed] The back media tray snaps into the back cover, and is responsible for securing the disk. The center is a circular hub of teeth which grip the disc by its hole. This effectively suspends the disk in the middle of the container, preventing the recording surface from being scratched.[1] The media tray was originally constructed of a flexible black polystyrene, but many newer trays use a more fragile transparent polystyrene. This allows the reverse of the back card, which is usually used for additional artwork, to be visible. This format did not become common until the mid-1990s.[citation needed] The jewel case is the standard case used by the majority of manufacturers and it is the most common type of case found in record and movie stores. Jewel cases are occasionally used for DVDs, but generally not for those that contain major film releases. Blank Blu-ray Disc media is also most commonly sold in standard-width jewel cases.... According to Philips, the name "jewel case" reflects either the generally high quality of the case design compared to initial attempts, or its appearance. According to one publication,[1] initial attempts at packaging CDs were unsatisfactory. When the new design, by Peter Doodson, was found to be "virtually perfect" it was dubbed the "jewel case".[1] Another publication[2] quotes Doodson describing that he "specified polished ribs as they pick up the light and shine" and states that the resulting appearance led to the name.... Endurance: The CD jewel case has a tight and firm grip of the CD because of the tray's "teeth" or "lock". Because of this, even if the CD jewel case is turned upside-down, left, or right, the CD is held in place. Flimsier cases may cause the CD to become loose, or even fall out. Also, since the jewel case is made of plastic, it is sturdier compared to cardboard, paper, or foams. When pressure is applied to the CD jewel case, the case will break first before the CD. If the case is made of thin cardboard, there is a greater chance that the CD would break or get damaged because the weight is directed onto it.[citation needed] Storage: The type of material of the CD jewel case allows storage of CDs for decades without ruining the CDs. The same is not as true with other cases, since paper can stick to the CDs due to air, humidity, and other factors. The CD jewel case may also be preferred because it offers orderliness on a shelf. Since the CD jewel case has existed for decades, there are many CD shelves, racks, and other products in the market that are made for CD jewel cases... Double disc albums can either be packaged in standard-thickness jewel cases with hinged media trays which can be lifted to reveal the second disc (trays hinged on the left are known as "Smart Tray" format; those hinged on the right are known as "Brilliant Box" format) or in a "double jewel case", sometimes called a multi-CD jewel case, "fatbox", or "Bookbox", which is slightly larger than two normal jewel cases stacked on top of each other, and can hold 2 to 6 CDs. Double jewel cases do not fit in some CD racks; however, some racks have a few extra wide slots specifically to accommodate them.[citation needed] Jewel cases for CDs released early in the format's life featured frosted top and bottom spines as opposed to the ridged ones more commonly used. As a result of their rarity, these types of jewel cases are fairly coveted among collectors.[3] "Super Jewel Box" is a more advanced design which offers amongst other improvements a greatly strengthened hinge area. The depth of the disc tray is also greater, allowing for two discs to be placed on top of each other. The super jewel box cannot be used as a direct replacement for the older jewel case design as its card insert for the back is slightly different in size and shape. The super jewel box was developed by Philips[1] and it was intended to be successor to the original jewel case. Some CD manufacturers (for example the high-end company Linn) are supplying them. The super jewel box is the conventional case for Super Audio CD (SACD) releases;[1] a taller "Plus" size, midway between CD and DVD-Video size, is the conventional case for DVD-Audio, and as of mid-2006, the case format for all albums released by the Universal Music Group in Europe.[4] Many alternatives to the standard jewel case may also be found, including larger DVD-style cases with a more book-like shape. It is not uncommon to find CDs housed in custom cases, tins and boxes of varying shapes and sizes. Slipcases and other envelope-type designs are also occasionally used.[citation needed] Some DualDiscs are packaged in jewel cases of a somewhat different design from the CD version; the inside edge is rounded instead of flat, and the physical position of the disc is moved slightly toward the spine to make room for a latch mechanism. The overall dimensions of a DualDisc case are roughly the same as a standard CD case. However, the hinge mechanism is smaller and cannot be dismantled as easily as on a standard jewel case.[citation needed] Smaller jewel cases are used for 8 cm CD and DVD media; similar cases without the hub are used for MiniDisc and (magnetic) Zip disk media.[citation needed] Additionally, larger jewel cases that were around the size of VHS keep cases were used for North American releases of games for the Sega CD, all North American releases of Sega Saturn games, and games released early in the original PlayStation's life cycle. Because the larger thickness of these cases put the CDs inside at greater risk of being accidentally knocked out of their hubs, large foam bricks were placed on top of the discs when packaged to hold them in place.... Slimline jewel cases first gained popularity as cases for CD singles sold in Japan and Europe, and have become a common space-saving packaging for burned CDs. The cases used for CD Singles sold in Japan and Europe are 7 mm thick, with a "J-card" type inlay, showing cover art through the front of the case, and also through both the spine and part of the back of the case. The CD itself is usually inserted "upside-down" in the case, so that the artwork on the disc itself shows through the transparent back of the case.[citation needed] Most slim jewel cases sold for burned CDs use the measure 142 by 125 by 5 millimetres (5.59 in × 4.92 in × 0.20 in), which is roughly half the thickness of a standard CD jewel case, allowing twice as many CDs to be stored in the same space, and will generally fit two to a slot in a standard CD rack. They generally do not have room for a full package insert booklet, only a slip of paper for a track listing or cover art, showing only through the front of the case. Unlike the standard jewel cases, slimline cases are made of two pieces rather than three and do not have a place for a back label. However, with this design the "spine" is narrower, making the discs more difficult to identify when stored on edge on a shelf.[citation needed] The bulk of slimline cases are made with translucent or transparent polystyrene, and are available in multiple colors. A stronger alternative is made from semi-opaque, semi-flexible polypropylene which is strong enough to protect the disc, but flexible enough not to break easily. Also, the hinge mechanism is inverted compared to the standard-width case, with the pivot arms being attached to the lower part of the case rather than the clear cover side.... In the U.S. and Canada, the jewel box of a music CD was originally packaged for retail sale in a large cardboard box called a longbox in order to fit in store fixtures designed for vinyl records, offer larger space for display of artwork and marketing blurbs, and deter shoplifting. This box also enabled censorship if the store deemed a particular album cover potentially offensive to the public. This packaging was much-criticized as environmentally wasteful, and was eventually dropped by most retailers in the mid-1990s, though major record companies continued to ship CDs to wholesale clubs, such as Costco and Sam's, in longboxes into the 21st century. Around 1994, the top wrap-around label sticker began to appear on most CDs, to make it easier to read what each CD was from the top without having to flip through them to see the front cover. These stickers were usually nothing more than informational labels and rarely would have any use in the marketing of the album. The wrap-around sticker also provided an extra seal, possibly as another theft deterrent. A chiefly Japanese packaging addition is the inclusion of an obi strip, a J-card-esque paperboard slip wound around the left side of the case to show details such as the price, artist, etc. The obi strip is particularly useful in the case of Japanese releases of western artists' material, due to the fact that the cover artwork is unaltered from its original-language release.... The simplest, least expensive package is a paper envelope. More expensive versions add a transparent window to the envelope allowing the disc label to be seen. The envelope can also be made out of spunbonded polyethylene (trade-named Tyvek). This is both more durable and less abrasive than paper. However, such packaging is rare for commercial releases due to its relative lack of protection compared with other designs, and is primarily limited to promotional and demo discs. It is also often used in software packages, where the box is labeled promotionally, but the disc comes in a paper sleeve (to cut costs).... The Q Pack was developed by the Queens Group Inc. in the mid-1990s as an alternative to regular CD jewel cases. (The Queens Group was purchased by Shorewood Packaging, who are part of International Paper). The Q Pack does not have a snap-in tray like a regular jewel case. It is characterized by the corrugated raised area where the top hinges to the back. Since Q Pack cases are not transparent, generally cover art is applied as a decal to the cover. Decals can also be applied to the inside front, on the tray underneath the hub and the back cover. A slot for an insert booklet is found inside the front cover as on typical jewel cases. The Q Pack has become one of the calling cards of No Limit Records, who used it often in the mid-to-late 1990s.... The term digipak (trademarked term)/digipack (generic term) refers to a particular type of CD case which essentially consists of a plastic CD tray glued inside a folding rectangle cardboard cover. Variations include where the disc sits on a hub or spindle inside. Though it once referred specifically to the patented Digi-Pak packaging, the term has since become genericized as digipack. Despite being made of paper, they were once considered an environmentally more friendly alternative to jewel cases though are vulnerable to shelf wear unless stored properly in plastic sleeves. A taller form has been used for some DVD movie releases; it is essentially identical to the CD package, though with raised top and bottom sections to keep the disc from sliding out if it comes disengaged from the hub.... A mini LP sleeve (a.k.a. paper sleeve or cardboard sleeve) is a square cardboard package that looks like a miniaturized version of an LP jacket. The disc slides into the jacket either into a pocket or any other opening. Mini LP sleeves can either appear as standalone cardboard sleeves or gatefolds, identically to full-sized LP jackets, with both variants being used for a number of music releases. Some gatefold sleeves are designed to fit similar (if not identical) facial dimensions to a jewel case or digipak, allowing them to be more neatly stored on shelves alongside CDs packaged in the latter two formats; sleeves of this type are occasionally given the alternate name of "digisleeves". While used in a somewhat limited capacity in the west, where the jewel case remains the most popular form of CD packaging, mini LP sleeves are popular for reissues of older albums in Japan, with their typically high level of faithfulness to the original vinyl record packaging making them highly sought-after among collectors." (wikipedia.org) "Video game packaging refers to the physical storage of the contents of a PC or console game, both for safekeeping and shop display. In the past, a number of materials and packaging designs were used, mostly paperboard or plastic. Today, most console and PC games are shipped in (CD) jewel cases or (DVD) keep cases, with little differences between them. Aside from the actual game, many items may be included inside, such as an instruction booklet, teasers of upcoming games, subscription offers to magazines, other advertisements, or any hardware that may be needed for any extra features of the game.... As PC games migrated to CDs in jewel cases, the large format box remained, though to reduce printing costs, manuals came on the CD as well as with the CD (inside the front cover), as did many of the copy-protection techniques in the form of SafeDisc and SecuROM. Despite the CD jewel case format having been around since the invention of the music CD, very few full-price PC games were released in a jewel case only. A thicker variation with space for a thick manual was, however, used for most PlayStation and Dreamcast games. Around 2000, PC game packaging in Europe began to converge with that of PS2 (and later, Xbox and Nintendo GameCube) console games, in the keep case format in which to this day the vast majority of games are sold. These boxes are sometimes known as Amaray cases, after a popular manufacturer of them. In the U.S., most PC games continue to ship in plastic DVD cases or cardboard boxes, though the size of such boxes has been standardized to a small form factor. Special packages such as a "Collector's Edition" frequently still ship with oversized boxes, or those with a different material, such as a "Steelbook". In the U.S., the IEMA played a major role in improving, from a retailer's perspective, the way most PC games are packaged. In 2000, many retailers were becoming disenchanted with the salability of PC games as compared with their more profitable console game counterparts as products. Oversized software boxes were blamed for a lack of productivity per square foot (the profitability of a particular item sold at retail based upon its foot print). The IEMA worked with leading game publishers in creating the now-standard IEMA-sized box, essentially a double-thick DVD-sized plastic or cardboard box, which effectively increased the profitability per square foot by over 33% and appeased merchants and developers alike. Medal of Honor: Allied Assault was one of the first PC games in the U.S. to come packaged in this new standardized box.[1][2][3][4][5][6] In creating the new box size the IEMA found itself in the unlikely position of platform guardian (where each console platform had a first-party publisher to oversee standardization matters, PC games by their very nature did not). As such, the industry pressured the organization to develop a platform identification mark which would unify the display and focus the customer's brand perception. Again the IEMA worked with publishers to create a new standard "PC" icon, and would provide its use on a royalty-free basis to the industry. In 2004, Half-Life 2 was made available for download over the Internet, via Steam. A physical boxed copy was also sold, though it also required activation over the Internet. Valve Corporation hoped this method of distribution would take off, as it delivers a greater percentage of the sale price to the game developer than boxed copies. Valve's belief was not unfounded, as Steam became the most common method of PC game distribution by late 2009: even earlier, internet distribution surpassed physical, and as of mid-2011 is unchallenged. Many, if not most games by most publishers for the PC, not only Valve, are released as "Steam" electronic copies which regularly outsell physical copies. In addition, Steam's DRM remains one of the most secure available, but is very non-intrusive compared to schemes like SecuROM, which, in installing kernel-mode drivers (often somewhat inaccurately referred to as "rootkits"), are often incompatible with certain hardware configurations and many pieces of third-party security software (such as software firewalls and anti-virus applications), a problem that does not plague Steam. Steam also allows consumers to back up their copy of Half-Life 2 as well as other games that are downloadable through Steam onto CDs or DVDs. To complement this feature many fans have created box coverings for jewel cases that can be downloaded and printed, giving birth to a wide variety of game packaging styles and designs. Java games for cellphones are distributed almost exclusively via the internet. It is possible that the proliferation of home broadband will lead to electronic distribution for all games in the future, leaving physical packaging a niche market, though game developers cite the unsolved problem of digital rights management as the main barrier to this." (wikipedia.org)
  • Condition: New
  • Pattern: Solid
  • Required Tools: No Tools Required
  • Color: Multicolor
  • Material: Plastic/Rubber, PVC
  • Item Length: 15 in
  • Suitable For: CDs
  • Brand: Unbranded
  • Mounting: Free Standing
  • CD/DVD Capacity: Less Than 50
  • Type: Rack/Tower
  • Assembly Required: Yes
  • Item Height: 10.875 in
  • Model: Dinosaur/Godzilla
  • Style: Pop Art
  • Theme: Dinosaurs, Fun & Curiosity, Humorous, Monsters, TV & Film Characters
  • Original/Reproduction: Original
  • Country/Region of Manufacture: China
  • Room: Bedroom, Den, Dining Room, Entryway, Garage, Home Office/Study, Kitchen, Living Room, Sunroom
  • Item Width: 3.75 in

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